Geraldine Richmond, Presidential Chair in Science and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon, is this year's recipient of the Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

Ensuring a sustainable world in the face of climate change and a population soon to reach nine billion demands a major shift in how we seek to co-exist with ever-expanding needs for energy, food, water, and a healthy environment.  Solutions demand innovative international research collaborations and policies that include talents and perspectives from both the developed and developing world.  This presentation will share many stories and insights gained from collaborative efforts with several thousand scientists and engineers in many developing countries around the globe. 

Geraldine (Geri) Richmond's research using laser spectroscopy and computational methods focusses on understanding environmentally and technologically important processes that occur at water, semiconductor, and mineral surfaces. Richmond is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Physical Society (APS) and the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She has served in leadership roles on many international, national, and state governing and advisory boards; has won numerous prestigious awards (including National Medal of Science from President Obama); and is the founder and director of COACh, a grassroots organization that has been assisting in the advancement of thousands of women scientists around the globe since 1997.  

The Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology was created by Reed College in 1975 as a tribute to the late C. Howard Vollum, a graduate of the Class of ’36, a Reed trustee, and a pioneer in the field of electronics who helped found Tektronix. The Vollum Award is intended to recognize and celebrate the exceptional achievement of a member of the scientific and technical community of the Northwest. The Vollum Award was endowed in 1975 by a grant from the Millicent Foundation, now a part of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.