Board of Trustees Chairman John Zeiger, Pierre Agostini, Liang-Shih Fan and President Carter with the Pierre Agostini Prize.
First Agostini Prize, a top Ohio State honor, awarded at trustees meeting Prize is awarded annually to a faculty member whose research or creative work is recognized by peers as groundbreaking COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Wednesday recognized an engineering scholar with the university’s newest and most prestigious award.
Pierre Agostini Prize (Announcement from The Ohio State University)
HONORING EXCEPTIONAL SCHOLARLY AND ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
The Pierre Agostini Prize was established earlier this year to memorialize Professor Agostini’s research achievements that led to him winning the Nobel Prize in Physics (2023) and to highlight Ohio State’s commitment to the promotion of innovative and consequential research and creative expression.
The Agostini Prize is the university’s most prestigious award for scholarly and artistic achievement and is given annually to a faculty member whose research or creative work is recognized by their peers to be so groundbreaking and influential that it deserves to be called “world class” and would typically be recognized through national or international awards.
Following a nomination and rigorous review process coordinated by the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge in collaboration with the President’s and Provost’s Advisory Committee, the inaugural recipient of the Pierre Agostini Prize will be formally announced during the board meeting’s public session on Wednesday, May 21. Prof. Agostini will be in attendance, and a brief reception will immediately follow the conclusion of the meeting to help honor the first recipient.
Overview of the Honoree
This year’s honoree is Liang-Shih Fan from the College of Engineering. Prof. L.S. Fan is Distinguished University Professor and C. John Easton Professor in Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He has been a member of faculty at Ohio State since 1978 and served as Department Chair from 1994 – 2003. Professor Fan received his BS degree (1970) from National Taiwan University, and his MS degree (1973) and PhD (1975) from West Virginia University, all in Chemical Engineering. In addition, he earned an MS degree (1978) in Statistics from Kansas State University.
Professor Fan’s research focuses on creating cleaner, more efficient ways to produce energy, fuels, and chemicals while reducing pollution. One of his most important innovations is a process called chemical looping, which allows fossil fuels, biomass, or plastic wastes to be used for producing energy, fuels, and chemicals without releasing harmful carbon dioxide into the air. Instead of burning fuel in the traditional way, his method uses special metal oxide particles to transfer oxygen, which helps generate energy while capturing the carbon dioxide before it escapes. This technology, which is currently at the commercialization stage has the potential to make power plants much cleaner while turning industrial waste products into useful hydrogen, chemicals and clean fuels. His patented processes have been licensed to major companies including TATA Steel, ITRI, UOP/Honeywell, and Babcock & Wilcox.
His peers regard his extensive work as groundbreaking, influential, and highly consequential, and he has brought considerable honors and recognition to the university. Professor Fan is a member of the National Academies of Engineering or Sciences in several countries, including the United States, China, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, and Taiwan. He is also recognized as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. His pioneering contributions have earned him over 100 awards and honors globally from various academic, industrial, governmental, and professional entities. In addition to these honors, as an educator, he has advised 98 PhD, 51 MS, and 14 BS theses students as well as 72 post-doctoral research associates.