James M. Tour

Research Areas

General: graphene, organic chemistry, nanotechnology, nanomedicine, materials science, energy, environmental remediation

Education

Stanford University, National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, Organic Chemistry, 1987-88 with Barry M. Trost
University of Wisconsin, Postdoctoral Fellow, Organometallic Chemistry, 1986-87 with Barry M. Trost
Purdue University, Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 1986 with E. Negishi
Syracuse University, B.S., Chemistry, 1981

Awards and Honors

In 2024, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and he won the Rice University, School of Natural Science, Research Award for the discovery and development of flash graphene.
In 2021, he won the Oesper Award from the American Chemical Society which is awarded to “outstanding chemists for lifetime significant accomplishments in the field of chemistry with long-lasting impact on the chemical sciences.”
Tour became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2020.
Awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Centenary Prize for innovations in materials chemistry with applications in medicine and nanotechnology, 2020.
Tour was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors, 2015.
Lady David Visiting Professor, Hebrew University, June, 2014.
Tour was named among “The 50 Most Influential Scientists in the World Today” by TheBestSchools.org in 2014.
Tour was named “Scientist of the Year” by R&D Magazine, 2013.
George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, Rice University, 2012.
ACS Nano Lectureship Award from the American Chemical Society, 2012.
Lady David Visiting Professor, Hebrew University, June, 2011.
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2009
Ranked one of the Top 10 chemists in the world over the past decade, by a Thomson Reuters citations per publication index survey, 2009
Distinguished Alumni Award, Purdue University, 2009
Houston Technology Center’s Nanotechnology Achievement Award, 2009
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, 2008
NASA Space Act Award, 2008
Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, 2007
George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, Rice University, 2007
Small Times Magazine’s Innovator of the Year Award, 2006
Nanotech Briefs Nano 50 Innovator Award, 2006
Alan Berman Research Publication Award, Department of the Navy, 2006
American Chemical Society’s #1 Most Accessed Journal Article in 2005, “Directional Control in Thermally Driven Single-Molecule Nanocars”
American Chemical Society, Southern Chemist of the Year Award 2005
Honda Innovation Award, NanoCars, 2005
Distinguished Faculty Associate, Hanszen College, Rice University, 1999-2000
Russell Research Award in Science, Mathematics and Engineering, Univ. South Carolina, 1997
Abbott Distinguished Lecturer, Colorado State Univ., March 1997
Weissberger-Williams Lecturer, Eastman Kodak Corporation, Rochester, NY, November 1995
Exxon Educational Foundation Research and Training Award, 1994
National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in Polymer Chem., 1991-96
Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in Polymer Chemistry, 1989-92
IBM Corporation, One-Week Visiting Lecturer, Polymer Division, Almaden Research Center, June 1988
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, 1987-88
IBM Corporation Full Graduate Fellowship in Polymer Chemistry, Purdue University 1985-86
Celanese Corporation Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry, Purdue University, 1981-82
American Institute of Chemists Award, 1981
Bachelor of Science, Cum Laude, Syracuse University, 1981
George Wiley Award in Organic Chemistry, 1979.