Each year, the Fred Basolo Award is presented to distinguished scientists who have contributed landmark work in the field of inorganic chemistry. To honor her impactful achievements spanning a three-decade career, the 2019 Basolo Award was given to Kim Renee Dunbar of Texas A&M University.
For more than 30 years, Kim Renee Dunbar has made significant advances in inorganic chemistry that has benefited the international scientific community. In the past, she’s received many distinguished awards, titles, and fellowships that recognize her outstanding research and work, which has gone on to secure new solutions in fields like medicine.
Kim Dunbar joined the Texas A&M Department of Chemistry faculty in 1999 and furthered her international reputation as an expert in synthetic, structural and physical inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry while there. Her use of structure and bonding relationships to explain physical and chemical phenomena has deeply influenced the work of scientists and researchers in facilities around the world.
In 2004, just five years after joining Texas A&M, Dunbar was named a Davidson Professor of Science. Today, she holds the Davidson Chair in Science and has earned a distinction as the first female chair holder in the history of the Texas A&M College of Science. In 2007, she was named a University Distinguished Professor, which is the university’s highest academic faculty rank. Recently, Kim Renee Dunbar was awarded this year’s Basolo Medal for Outstanding Research in Inorganic Chemistry.
The Fred Basolo Award was created to uphold the acclaimed contributions of chemist Fred Basolo during his time at Northwestern University while also honoring modern chemists for their own involvement. Fred Basolo was the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and served as president of the ACS in 1983. Basolo arrived at the Northwestern University in 1946 and set a high standard of conduct and scientific research throughout his professional time there. His former students established his award, helping to further identify the university as one of the greatest and most respected scientific arenas in the nation.
Northwestern University presents the Fred Basolo Medal each year to a distinguished contributor to chemistry such as Kim Renee Dunbar who not only advances science but also serves as a role model to inspire students and future researchers of chemistry. The award is co-sponsored by the American Chemical Society Chicago Section.
“I am deeply honored to receive this medal. The list of previous recipients includes many of my
inorganic chemistry idols, mentors and friends,” says Kim Renee Dunbar. “I knew Fred Basolo
quite well, and he took an interest in me when I was a young professor. He and I had many long
talks, and he regaled me with stories about the history of coordination chemistry. He was a
wonderful role model and an inspiration to me.”