2021.0218
NTNU professor 1st Taiwanese to receive distinguished chemistry award
Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) Chiu Mei-hung (邱美虹), a professor at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), has become the first Taiwanese to receive the Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering award by an international scientific organization, the Taipei-based university said on Thursday.
Chiu, who currently teaches at the school's Graduate Institute of Science Education, was among the 12 awardees recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) this year, the NTNU said in a statement.
'These 12 awardees have been selected based on excellence in basic or applied research, distinguished accomplishments in teaching or education, or demonstrated leadership or managerial excellence in the chemical sciences,' the IUPAC said in a statement on Feb. 8.
The IUPAC is one of the most important international chemistry organizations in the world.
It is considered the authority on chemical nomenclature and terminology, including the naming of new elements in the periodic table, the university said.
According to the NTNU, the award was created to acknowledge and promote the work of women chemists and chemical engineers worldwide.
Chiu has represented Taiwan at the IUPAC for over two decades, and was once the organization's Chair of the Committee on Chemistry Education from 2012-2015, it said.
In addition to organizing the IUPAC's biennial conference on chemistry education in Taiwan, the professor has also helped push science learning in more than 10 developing countries through the staging of various workshops for chemistry teachers, the NTNU said.
The other recipients of the 2021 awards went to several other university professors spanning from Jordan to the United States and the Netherlands, according to the IUPAC news release.
The Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering has been awarded each year since 2011.