Higher Education Reporter

Narayan Hosmane, an NIU chemistry and biochemistry professor, recently received the prestigious Humboldt Senior Scientist Research Prize.

“I’m still in shock,” Hosmane said. “You always think to do your best but don’t expect anything to come out of it.”

Out of all the awards Hosmane has received over the years, this one goes on top, he said.

“When you compare it to the Oscar and the Nobel Prize, this is like the Emmy,” Hosmane said. “It’s the second best, next to the Nobel Prize.”

The Germany-based Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards the prize to 150 people per year. Last year only 40 were given in the United States.

The prize includes the American equivalent of $70,000. That is used for a maximum of a one-year trip to Germany.

Hosmane will leave for Germany in the fall 2002 semester for six months and then for three months out of the next two summers. In Germany he’ll give lectures about his research in chemistry and will attend conferences.

Hosmane was nominated for the award by Herbert Roesky, a professor at the University of Gottingen in Germany. He was also the one who informed Hosmane by a phone call and an e-mail that he had won the award.

In the e-mail Roesky wrote, “Congratulations! You will receive the official letter from the foundation within four weeks, but you can already open the bottle of champagne.”

“He thought I should get the award,” Hosmane said. “He asked me to send him my curriculum vitae and asked me if I was willing to accept the award if I won and be collaborating with him in research. I just said yes, but I didn’t think I would receive the award.”

German professor Wolfgang Kaim seconded Roesky’s nomination.

Hosmane mostly works in boron chemistry research. His research involves solving problems in nuclear waste disposal and finding ways to make superior plastics.

He also formed Metallo-Biotech International Inc., a university spin-off company that works with boron neutron capture therapy, a two-step approach to cure brain tumors.

Other honorable recognitions that Hosmane has received are the Boron USA Award in 1996 and the Presidential Research Professor award this past year. This year, he also won the Award for Outstanding Acquisition of External Grants from the NIU Graduate Council’s Research and Artistry Committee. It comes with a $2,500 stipend.

Hosmane stressed that it’s not the people who apply the research who win these types of prizes but those who start the basic research.

“It’s the people that first plant the seed, not the ones who make the seed grow,” Hosmane said.

Nevertheless, Hosmane is proud of his achievements.

“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Hosmane said. “I never thought I’d be able to get it at this point. There may be other good people who are more deserving.”