Jordanian academic Omar Yaghi wins Arab Genius Minds Award

AMMAN — Jordanian academic Omar Yaghi, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded the 2024 Arab Genius Minds Award in the Natural Sciences category for his pioneering work in reticular chemistry.

Yaghi is celebrated for his transformative innovations in designing and synthesising metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

These frameworks address critical global challenges in energy storage, water harvesting, and environmental sustainability.

His research portfolio includes over 300 peer-reviewed papers, which have collectively garnered more than 250,000 citations, underscoring the "far-reaching" impact of his work.

Since 2012, Yaghi has held the James and Neeltje Tretter Chair in Chemistry at UC Berkeley. 

His contributions to reticular chemistry have "revolutionised" the ability to assemble molecular building blocks into highly porous structures with applications in gas storage, catalysis, and drug delivery, among others, yielding significant economic and environmental advancements.

The Arab Genius Minds Award, launched by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, honours achievements by Arab scientists and innovators across six key categories essential for the region's developmental and cultural progress.