Lee was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and received his B.S. from the National Taiwan University. After finishing his M.S. degree at Tsinghua University, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1965 he began his research on reactive scattering experiments in ion-molecule reaction as a postdoctoral fellow.

In 1967 Lee accepted a research fellowship at Harvard University and then became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, where he rapidly made his laboratory the North American capital of molecular beam study. Lee returned to Berkeley as a full professor in 1974 and began to study reaction dynamics, investigations of various primary photochemical processes, and the spectroscopy of ionic and molecular clusters. In 1994 he retired as professor and principal investigator for the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to become president of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. In 2006 he became president emeritus and distinguished research fellow at the same institution.

Lee has received numerous awards and honors, including the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the U.S. National Medal of Science, Faraday Medal and Prize from the Royal Chemical Society of Great Britain, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Medal from the Indian National Science Academy. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Göttingen Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences, Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. He is also a member of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan and the Third World Academy of Sciences. He has received honorary degrees from 34 universities around the world.

About the Othmer Gold Medal

The medal is presented annually and cosponsored by CHF and four affiliated organizations: the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Chemists’ Club, and the Société de Chimie Industrielle (American Section). The medal commemorates Donald Othmer (1904–1995), noted researcher, consultant, editor, engineer, inventor, philanthropist, professor, and coeditor of the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.

CHF gratefully acknowledges John Wiley & Sons, Inc., for donating a set of the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology each year to the institution chosen by the Othmer Gold Medal recipient.

About the Sponsors

THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY (ACS) is the world’s largest scientific organization. The society was established in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1937 to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner the advancement of chemistry in all its branches

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS (AIChE) is a professional, technical, and educational association. The institute was founded in 1908 and is dedicated to promoting excellence in the development and practice of chemical engineering in an ever-expanding array of disciplines

THE CHEMISTS' CLUB, established in 1898, is one of the oldest and most respected chemical organizations in the country. Members are engaged in management, marketing, processing, and research and development.

THE SOCIÉTÉ DE CHIMIE INDUSTRIELLE, AMERICAN SECTION, is the U.S. branch of the Paris-based international organization founded in 1918. The Société's mission is to aid and encourage the use of scientific and engineering developments by the industry and offer solutions to current and long-term management and government issues of global concern.

THE CHEMICAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION (CHF) serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; encourages research in CHF collections; and carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society.