On Jun. 13, 2011, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Robert S. Langer been selected to receive the 2012 Priestley Medal, by the American Chemical Society “to recognize distinguished services to chemistry.”

Dr. Langer runs one of the largest academic laboratories in the world, with nearly 100 members. He has been an author of more than 1,100 research papers; has approximately 800 issued and pending patents worldwide that have been licensed or sublicensed to more than 220 companies; and has had a hand in creating some 25 companies.