Stamford American Hosts Dialogue with 2010 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Prof. Ei-ichi Negishi
(PRWEB) August 20, 2015 -- On January 28, 2015 Professor Ei-ichi Negishi, 2010 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, joined Stamford American International School (Stamford American) as part of the school’s Global Mentor Program, in partnership with the International Peace Foundation 5th ASEAN event series ‘Bridges – Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace.’
An audience of Stamford American Secondary School students and teachers listened to Professor Negishi’s keynote speech on his path to winning the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and discussion on “the power of metal catalyst transition for a prosperous and sustainable 21st century." Stamford American’s Advanced Placement Chemistry students subsequently joined Professor Negishi for a question and answer session covering topics including organic chemistry and funding for science research.
Superintendent at Stamford American, Mr Malcolm Kay said, “Professor Negishi is a global authority on organic chemistry, bringing vast insights to Stamford Secondary students as they go forth towards achieving their Advanced Placement credits. Stamford American is honored to have Professor Ei-ichi Negishi join us as part of our Global Mentor Program, offering invaluable insights on a model for future successes.”
Professor Negishi serves as an Executive Research Advisor to Sony for research and development in the area of organic electronics and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research on palladium-catalyzed, cross coupling reactions in organic synthesis. Other awards received by Professor Negishi include the 1996 Chemical Society of Japan Award, the 1998 ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry, the 1998-2001 Alexander von Humboldt Senior Researcher Award in Germany, the 2000 Sir Edward Frankland Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK, the 2007 Yamada-Koga Prize in Japan, the 2010 ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, the 2010 Japanese Order of Culture and the 2011 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Sharing his insights, Professor Negishi said, “The statistical probability of winning the Nobel Prize is 1 in 10 million. I don’t know how many people there are in Singapore, but not 10 million yet! It is a 7-step competition, do well in Elementary school and you become one in 10, by the time you reach junior high, you are one in 100, and in graduating university I was one in 1000 in terms of intellect. At this stage you have climbed 3 steps, but it’s not enough to win a Nobel Prize in Physics or Chemistry. To achieve this, you should like what you do, if you don’t like what you do you won’t be able to sustain intense efforts for such a long period and then keep pursuing. Looking back, this is how I achieved this big award.”
Stamford American’s Global Mentor Program gives students access to leading global figures in the fields of business, science, social enterprise, athletics and the arts to motivate to excel in their chosen paths. Some past mentors include winner of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Professor Sir James Mirrlees and U.S. Olympic medalists Nathan Adrian and Jessica Hardy.
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About Stamford American International School
Stamford American is the first school in Singapore to offer students both the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, Advanced Placement and the American High School Diploma–giving students an international experience with an American foundation. Stamford American’s $300 million centrally located campus off Upper Serangoon Road is the most advanced learning environment ever built and is the largest investment in a Kindergarten to Grade 12 education facility anywhere in the region, providing a major economic injection into the Singapore economy. The campus features state-of-the-art technology and facilities including an Innovation Center, through a collaboration with Bloomberg – a first for any high school in Asia, establishing it as the benchmark for international schools around the world. It also house’s the island-state’s only EducationUSA Advising Centre partnering with the U.S. Embassy. Stamford’s campus is designed to be the perfect environment for preparing children from aged 2 to High School for careers in the 21st century.
For more information on Stamford American International School, please visit:
http://www.sais.edu.sg or call +65 6602 7247
Afiqah Aziz, Stamford American International School, http://www.sais.edu.sg/, +65 67094848, [email protected]
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