2026 Esselen Award Ceremony Honoring Professor Héctor D. Abruña

This meeting will feature Professor Héctor D. Abruña, Émile M. Chamot Professor of Chemistry, is Director of the Center for Alkaline Based Energy Solutions (CABES), the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (emc2) and the Abruña Energy Initiative, as our speaker and awardee. He will receive the Gustavus J. Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest for his work groundbreaking contributions to electroanalytical chemistry through the innovative integration of synthetic chemistry to create novel electrode materials with advanced spectroscopic methods to interrogate their behavior. His work has fundamentally transformed the understanding of electrochemical surfaces. The insights generated by these studies have led directly to significant advances in the performance and capacity of batteries and fuel cells. In parallel with his foundational research, Professor Abruña has translated scientific discovery into real-world impact, advancing technologies that will enable the next generation of electric vehicles and aircraft.

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED - RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED

This is a black tie optional event.

Schedule of Events

4:30 PM Board Meeting

5:30 PM Social Hour

6:30 PM Dinner

8:00 PM Award Meeting and Presentation of the Gustavus J. Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest to Professor Héctor D. Abruña

Professor Abruña's talk:

"The Energy Landscape in the Age of Sustainability: Potential Solutions, Novel Technologies and Implementation Projects"

Abstract: Meeting global energy needs in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way is one of the grand challenges of our time. While the use of energy based on fossil fuels has enabled great advances and an increase in the standard of living, it has also brought us to the brink of an environmental catastrophe. As a society, we will need to develop strategies that integrate renewable and sustainable energy sources.

This presentation will deal with global and national energy issues and how ongoing work at Cornell, especially on fuel cells and electrical energy storage technologies (batteries) can provide some potential solutions. I will also present examples of how fundamental research translates into deployable technologies and demonstration projects of the Abruña Energy Initiative in Ithaca, NY and Vieques, Puerto Rico. The presentation will end with an overview at future directions.

Biography: Professor Abruña, Émile M. Chamot Professor of Chemistry, is Director of the Center for Alkaline Based Energy Solutions (CABES), the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (emc2) and the Abruña Energy Initiative. He completed his graduate studies with Royce W. Murray and Thomas J. Meyer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980 and was a postdoctoral research associate with Allen J. Bard at the University of Texas at Austin from 1980-81. After a brief stay at the University of Puerto Rico, he joined Cornell in 1983. He was Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology from 2004-2008. His research is focused on the development and oerando characterization of energy materials for batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers.

Prof. Abruña is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2018), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007) and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007). He has been the recipient of numerous awards including a Presidential Young Investigator Award, A. P. Sloan Fellowship, J. S. Guggenheim Fellowship and J. W. Fulbright Senior Fellow. He is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society and the International Society of Electrochemistry. He received the Faraday Medal of the Royal Society in 2011, the Gold Medal of the International Society of Electrochemistry in 2017 and the American Chemical Society Award in Analytical Chemistry (2021). Most recently he received the 2024 Global Energy Prize, the 2024 Enrico Fermi Award, the 2025 Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, the 2025 G. Ertl Award, the Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award for 2026 and the Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest in 2026. Prof. Abruña is the co-author of over 615 publications (H-index = 119) and has given over 720 invited lectures world-wide. He considers his 67 Ph.D. students and 75 Post-Doctoral associates, to date, as his most important professional achievement.

Abruña is best known for revolutionizing the fundamental understanding of electrochemical interfaces by pioneering the development of operando techniques with emphasis on X-ray based methods, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) and confocal Raman imaging. His group pioneered the development of non-precious metal based electrocatalysts for alkaline fuel cells as well as novel materials for batteries, supercapacitors, molecular assemblies and electrochemical sensors.

Please visit https://www.nesacs.org/award/gustavus-john-esselen-award/ for more information on the selection process, the history of the Award and the life and career of Gustavus John Esselen, as well as past winners.

NESACS would like to thank the chair of the Gustavus John Esselen Award Committee of NESACS, Dr. Karen Allen, the Esselen Family, and Ms. Jeananne Piper Grady for her skillful organization of this event.

The deadline for registering for dinner is 4:00 PM, Friday, April 10, 2026.

Registration or other questions? Please contact: [email protected]

Transportation and Parking?

MBTA closest stop is Harvard Square, with many bus lines (1, 68, 83) providing access via Mass Ave. or Broadway. Please visit www.mbta.com

Parking is available in the Broadway Street garage (3rd level or higher); enter from Felton St. via Cambridge St. Please mention the event for parking at no charge to you.

There is street parking around Harvard Square, but the 2 hour time limit might not be enough for the dinner or the meeting.

Héctor D. Abruña Photograph credit: Christopher Michel

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