On Apr. 21, 1999, nuclear chemist Darleane C. Hoffman, a chemistry professor of the graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, was chosen to receive the 2000 Priestley Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society.

Hoffman is only the second woman honored with the medal. The first, Mary L. Good, received it in 1997.

The award, announced in a recent issue of the society’s publication Chemical and Engineering News, recognizes distinguished service to chemistry. Hoffman, professor at UC Berkeley since 1984, is also a faculty senior scientist and co-leader of the Heavy Element Nuclear and Radiochemistry Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).