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A University of Utah chemistry professor's groundbreaking research of the tiniest particles has landed him the nation's biggest scientific prize.
On Friday, President Barack Obama awarded Peter J. Stang the National Medal of Science.
Six other scientists earned the same honor at a White House ceremony. Five others were to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
Stang, who moved to Utah in 1969 and helped build the U. into an internationally recognized research school, was chosen for his "creative contributions to the development of organic supramolecular chemistry and for his outstanding and unique record of public service."
The U. chemist created a method to quickly assemble nano-scale molecular devices that at some point could be used for storing information, delivering medicine to certain cells in the body or for artificial photosynthesis.
Stang has described his research as imitating nature in building molecules that eventually could be used in various ways — from targeting medicine to fight a cancerous tumor to helping in the refining of petroleum.