Congratulations to Professor Véronique Gouverneur, who has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in the US. She was one of four scientists from Oxford who were elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to membership in the NAS is a mark of excellence in science and considered one of the highest honours that a scientist can receive.
Prof Gouverneur is renowned for her contributions to fluorine chemistry which have tackled some of the biggest challenges of this area. Her achievements include developing new fluorination processes for producing diagnostics and pharmaceutical drugs, and advancing safe and sustainable manufacturing of fluorochemicals that are essential for medicine, food, and material science.
Her research has led to innovative fluorination processes to produce medicines and radiotracers for Positron Emission Tomography imaging. More recently, she launched a programme on safe and circular fluorine chemistry. Her laboratory invented the first methods to convert the mineral fluorspar into valuable fluorochemicals without the necessity to manufacture highly dangerous hydrogen fluoride. This advance attracted global attention and led her to found the spinout company FluoRok from the University of Oxford. She has previously received numerous international prizes and awards, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2019, and became an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (US) in 2022.
Prof Gouverneur said:
I am thrilled to receive this recognition, and grateful to all members of my team who serve society through science. Becoming a member of the National Academy of Sciences is a privilege, and a superb opportunity to connect with a remarkable community.
You can read more about the other winners from the University of Oxford here.
