In 1999, the American Chemical Society awarded the Priestley Medal to Ronald Breslow ‘for his numerous contributions to chemistry,” the Society’s most prestigious award.

Breslow, Professor of Chemistry and University Professor at Columbia University, conducted research that is characterized in part by its breadth. He and his students have designed, synthesized, and explored the properties of molecules ranging from three-membered aromatic rings that push the definitions of aromaticity to complex organic systems that begin to imitate the chemical properties of enzymes.