Mark Hersam Wins ACS Award in Surface Chemistry

Northwestern Engineering’s Mark Hersam has been selected to receive the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Surface Chemistry. The award recognizes distinguished research and service in the advancement of the surface chemistry field. 

Hersam, chair and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering, will be formally recognized at an awards ceremony on March 23, 2027, in conjunction with the ACS Spring 2027 meeting in New Orleans.

“It is a tremendous honor to receive the ACS Award in Surface Chemistry, joining the distinguished list of previous recipients who have been my scientific role models,” Hersam said. “This recognition would not have been possible without the support of the students, postdocs, collaborators, and staff who have worked with my research group over the past 25 years.”

Hersam develops new nanomaterials, including atomically thin materials and carbon nanotubes, whose properties can be tuned by controlling what happens at their surfaces. His research has helped scientists better understand and manipulate those surfaces, making it possible to build more efficient electronics, energy-storage technologies, sensors, and other advanced devices. He also has been a leader in advancing graphene, a one-atom-thick form of carbon whose remarkable strength, flexibility, and conductivity have made it one of the most promising materials for future technologies.

As director of the Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NU-MRSEC), Hersam leads the center’s efforts to promote and foster world-class materials research, education, and outreach via active interdisciplinary collaborations with partners in academia, industry, national laboratories, and museums.

Hersam has been recognized multiple times for his work. In 2024, he was elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition, he earned the MacArthur Fellowship in 2014. He has been repeatedly named a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher for a high number of citations on his many peer-reviewed publications. Hersam is a fellow of several leading organizations, including ACS.