Weizmann chemists win EMET Prize

Two Weizmann Institute chemists, Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz and Prof. Meir Lahav, have received the A.M.N. Foundation’s prestigious EMET Prize, which recognizes far-reaching academic achievements that significantly contribute to society. Profs. Leiserowitz and Lahav, both emeritus members of the Department of Materials and Interfaces, earned the award just two years after winning the Israel Prize in chemistry and physics. 

The two professors are being recognized for elucidating the chemical mechanisms behind the self-assembly of chiral structures—structures containing molecules that are mirror images of each other. Enabling scientists to understand these critical natural processes, their discoveries have paved the way for additional breakthroughs in chirality (see story on Prof. Ron Naaman, page 2) and helped provide the building blocks for future drug development.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1934, Prof. Leiserowitz earned his PhD in solid-state chemistry at the Weizmann Institute in 1965. Prof. Lahav was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and received his PhD from the Institute in the same field, in 1967. 

Prof. Lahav and Prof. Leiserowitz are both emeritus members of the Department of Materials and Interfaces.