Winner: Frantisek Svec

Professor Frantisek Svec was awarded his Martin medal for his world-leading contribution to chromatographic science. His prolific work in the development of polymeric stationary phases and adaption of these to multiple column and chip formats was recognised by the committee as ground-breaking research. The pivotal approaches he has pioneered for the fabrication of monolithic supports and functionalized polymer beads have been adopted widely by numerous commercial organisations and exemplifies the practical and important nature of his work.

Professor Svec undertook his PhD in polymer chemistry at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague. Following the completion of his PhD, he became an Assistant Professor at the Institute and also held a position as visiting scientist at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. In 1976 he joined the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague where he worked as a department head and technology transfer manager. In 1992 he moved to Cornell University in New York State followed by a move to the University of California, Berkeley in 1997 where he continues to be a visiting scholar. In 2005 he became the Director of the Organic and Macromolecular Synthesis Facility at the Molecular Foundry of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. More recently, he has also held positions as a visiting professor of analytical chemistry at the University of Innsbruck (2003-2006).

Professor Svec’s pioneering research is internationally acclaimed and he has received numerous awards reflecting this. These include the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences Award, the 1988 Czech National Prize, the M.J.E. Golay Award, the EAS Award for Achievements in Separation Science, the ACS Award in Chromatography, the Dal Nogare Award, an Honorary Doctorate from Umea University (Sweden) and an Honorary Professorship at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China). Additionally he serves as President of the CASSS (formerly California Separation Science Society) since 2003.

Professor Svec’s scientific expertise is highly valued and recognised by the learned press. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Separation Science and is a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Chromatography A, Electrophoresis, the Chinese Journal of Chromatography, Chemical Letters (Prague) and the Journal of Advanced Research. As an author, he has over 400 publications including 56 book chapters and review articles, 3 books and 79 patents. This includes the 2005 Journal of Chromatography Top Cited Article.

Professor Svec’s is a member of a number of permanent steering committees of major international symposia on chromatography and related techniques. Appropriately, Professor Svec will be presented with the Martin Medal at HPLC 2013 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.