John Polanyi

John Polanyi

John Charles Polanyi, PC CC FRSC OOnt FRS (born January 23, 1929) is a Canadian chemist who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his research in chemical kinetics. Polanyi was educated at Manchester University, and did postdoctoral research at the National Research Council in Canada and Princeton University in New Jersey. Polanyi's first academic appointment was at the University of Toronto, and he remains there as of 2011. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Polanyi has received numerous other awards, including 25 honorary degrees, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry and the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. Outside of his scientific pursuits, Polanyi is active in public policy discussion, especially concerning science and nuclear weapons. His father, Michael, was a noted chemist and philosopher. His uncle Karl was an economist.