UA's Dr. Lim Wins International Prize for Science

Akron, Ohio, April 19, 2001 — Dr. Edward C. Lim, the Goodyear Professor of Chemistry at The University of Akron, has received the 2001 Ho-Am Prize for Science from the Ho Am Foundation of South Korea. Like the Nobel and Rockefeller foundations, the Ho Am Foundation is dedicated to honoring individual achievement in the area of the sciences, medicine, arts and community service.

"The Ho-Am Prize Committee awards the Ho-Am Prize to those who have made distinguished contributions to the development of our society through prominent accomplishments," according to the foundation's website. Researchers and scholars are selected for their outstanding achievements of international standards, "thereby to commemorate their excellent endeavors and at the same time encourage their future activities of even higher levels and present exemplary models for the academic community."

Lim was one of 14 Korean researchers from around the world considered for the prize in pure science, said Hun Gon Kim, assistant manager of the Ho-Am Foundation. "Among their significant and contributory accomplishments, Dr. Lim's was regarded most prominent this year by the screening committee.

"His prize-winning achievement is the theory of Proximity Effect, which governs the rate of electronic relaxation in photoexcited organics. The Proximity Effect is now widely accepted as a controlling concept governing the rates of radiationless processes."

A film crew from the Ho-Am Foundation traveled to Akron April 18-20 to record

Lim in his offices, labs and on campus. The crew will make a documentary on Lim, which will be shown at the Ho-Am awards presentation in Seoul, S. Korea, on June 1. Lee will receive a gold medal, plaque and cash prize of more than $75,000.

The Ho-Am Foundation was established in 1990 by Kun-Hee Lee, chairman of Samsung Group, to honor his late father and founder of the company, Byung-Chull Lee. Since that time, more than 50 Ho-Am Prizes have been distributed to recipients of Korean descent around the world.

Considered a pioneer in the field of molecular energy flow, Lim is the author of more than 300 scholarly papers that have appeared in more than 200 refereed journals. The inaugural holder of the Goodyear Professor of Chemistry post, Lim's research focuses on spectroscopy, photochemistry and photophysics of organic molecules. His work in these areas may contribute to more practical considerations such as solar energy conversion and tracking of pollutants and their photochemical degradation products in the environment.

Lim joined UA in 1989, and has received numerous fellowships and awards, including guest professorships at the University of Paris and the University of Tokyo. Among his other research awards are the Sigma Xi Faculty Research Award and the Distinguished Faculty Fellow (First Group), from Wayne State University.

He received a bachelor of science degree in 1954 from St. Procopius College in Lisle, Ill., and master's and doctoral degrees from the Oklahoma State University in 1957 and 1959, respectively. Lim currently resides in Hudson.

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