2019 ISNSCE Nanoscience Prize – Prof. David Leigh

The awardee for the 2019 ISNSCE Nanoscience Prize is David Leigh from the University of Manchester, where he is the Royal Society Research Professor & Sir Samuel Hall Professor of Chemistry.

Professor Leigh is a leading master of supramolecular knots, catenanes, and rotaxanes. He has inspired us with implementations of a series of synthetic molecular machines, including chemical assemblers and Brownian-ratchet rotary motors powered by various energy sources. 

Professor Leigh obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield working with Fraser Stoddart, did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta with David Bundle, and has since held faculty positions at University of Warwick, University of Edinburgh, and University of Manchester.

Professor Leigh is a  Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of London, and is a member of the Manchester Circle of Magicians. He has been the recipient of a large number of awards including the Izatt-Christensen Award for Macrocyclic Chemistry, the EU Descartes Prize, and the Foresight Feynman Prize.