The 30th Biennial ORCS Meeting will be held April 12th-16th, 2026 in Santa Rosa, CA!

Submissions for the 2026 ORCS awards have now closed and recipients are now announced!  To learn about our 2026 awardees, please see below.

The Robert Augustine Award of the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society (ORCS) was initiated by ORCS in 2017 to recognize engineers and scientists early in their careers.  It is named after Robert Augustine, who has been a contributing member of ORCS since 1966, now over 52 years.

The Award recipient must be less than 40 years of age at the end of the calendar year in which the Award is presented. Nominations for this Award can be made by any ORCS member at any time to any member of the Executive Committee. The Chair will then poll the Executive Committee as to the acceptability of the nominee. At least three-fourths of the Executive Committee must concur for the award to be granted.

The Award will consist of a $2,000.00 honorarium, an appropriate plaque, and up to $1,500.00 for reasonable travel expenses to attend the ORCS biennial conference to receive the award. The Award will be presented during the ORCS biennial conference. This Award is administered and funded by the Corporation. The Corporation also welcomes funding by companies that benefit by advancements in catalysis. There will be no set time interval in granting of the Award, but it can be given only once every year provided a suitable candidate has been nominated.

_________________________

For 2026, the awards committee recognizes Prof. Quentin Michaudel’s contributions in the field of homogeneous catalysis, synthetic organic chemistry, and polymer science, including (1) the design of polymerization processes that harness stereoselective olefin metathesis catalysts for the precise synthesis of alkene-containing polymers, including many that were previously inaccessible; and (2) the invention of Sulfur(VI)-Fluoride Exchange (SuFEx) click processes, coupled with photochemistry and nickel catalysis, to rapidly synthesize and functionalize both small molecules and polymers.

The Russell Malz Award is sponsored by the Society and is bestowed in honor of Mr. Malz’ exceptional service to the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society.

This Award may be granted by the Corporation to an individual who has given exceptional service to the Society. Nominations for this Award can be made by any member at any time to any member of the Executive Committee. At the Chair’s discretion, the Award will consist of up to a $1,000.00 honorarium, an appropriate plaque, and up to $500.00 for reasonable travel expenses to attend the ORCS biennial conference to receive the award.

The Award will be presented during the ORCS biennial conference. This Award is administered by the Corporation and awarded at the discretion of the Chair with concurrence of the Executive Committee. There will be no set time interval in granting of the Award, but it can be given only once every two years.

_______________________

The Russell Malz Award will not be conveyed at the 2026 ORCS meeting.

In 1992, the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society (ORCS) established the Murray Raney Award, created and proposed by William E. Pascoe and Jefferson D. Herring. The Raney award acknowledges contributions in the use of base metal catalysts in organic synthesis.

This Award may be granted by the Corporation to an individual who has made significant contributions to the development and/or fundamental understanding of the chemistry of base metal heterogeneous catalyst materials, particularly as they are applied to organic chemistry and reactions of interest to the chemical industry.

Nominations for this Award can be made by any member at any time to any member of the Executive Committee.  The Awards subcommittee will evaluate the nominations and determine the most deserving candidates.  The top candidates will be forwarded to W.R. Grace and Company and to the Executive Committee.  At least three-fourths of the Executive Committee must concur that an individual is acceptable for the award.  In the case where multiple finalists are acceptable, the awardee will be determined by majority vote of the Executive Committee.

The Award will consist of a $5,000.00 honorarium, an appropriate plaque, and up to $2,000.00 for reasonable travel expenses to attend the ORCS biennial conference to receive the award. This Award is administered by the Corporation and funded by W.R. Grace and Company. There will be no set time interval in granting of the Award, but it can be given only once every two years provided a suitable candidate has been nominated. The Award will be presented during the ORCS biennial conference

__________________________

For 2026, the awards committee recognizes Dr. Beata Kilos’s pioneering contributions to the discovery of novel catalysts and processes for sustainable synthesis of classic and specialty chemicals based on abundant elements, such as V, Mo, Co, and Ga. Her leadership has redefined what non-noble-metal catalysis can accomplish in both scientific and commercial settings, inspiring a generation of researchers to look beyond the persistent precious-metal paradigms.

The Paul N. Rylander Award of the Organic Reactions Catalysis Society (ORCS) has been awarded a prize for Catalysis in Organic Chemistry since 1988.  It is bestowed in honor of Mr. Rylander’s many significant achievements and includes authoring one of the earliest and most comprehensive books for the safe and effective use of precious metal catalysts for hydrogenation. The book was a means to compile and share best practices among mainly industrial scientists and engineers.

This Award may be granted by the Corporation to an individual who has made significant contributions to chemistry and the chemical industry in the field of catalysis of organic reactions. Nominations for this Award can be made by any ORCS member at any time to any member of the ORCS Executive Committee. The Chair will then poll the Executive Committee as to the acceptability of the nominee. At least three-fourths of the Executive Committee must concur for the award to be granted, and the nominee must also be acceptable to the BASF Group.

The Award consists of a $5,000.00 honorarium, an appropriate plaque, and up to $2,000.00 for reasonable travel expenses to attend the ORCS biennial conference to receive the award.

The Award will be presented during the ORCS biennial conference. This Award is administered by the Corporation and funded by the BASF Group. There will be no set time interval in granting of the Award, but it can be given only once every two years provided a suitable candidate has been nominated.

_____________________

For 2026, the awards committee recognizes Prof. Flaherty’s contributions in reactions and reaction phenomena of organic molecules at surfaces, often reactions in the liquid phase where adsorption and solvation play key roles impacting the reaction energetics. These understandings have been gleaned from detailed characterization of catalysts, quantitative and rigorous analysis of kinetic measurements, and use of spectroscopy and probe methods.

The Organic Reactions Catalysis Society (ORCS) honors award winners at its Biennial Conferences.