Photo of Allen J. Bard

Allen J. Bard

  • National Medal of Science
  • Chemistry

For contributions in electrochemistry, including electroluminescence, semiconductor photoelectrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, and the invention of the scanning electrochemical microscope.

Allen Bard on his proudest achievement

Allen Bard doesn’t cure diseases. But with the scanning electrochemical microscopy imaging technique he developed, scientists are able to better identify potentially deadly diseases and find new paths for trans-dermal drugs to combat them.

Bard’s frontier-pushing research in electrochemistry has garnered numerous accolades, among them the Enrico Fermi Award, the Priestley Medal and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry. The University of Texas at Austin, where joined the chemistry faculty in 1958, said that Bard’s work has earned him the reputation as being the “father of electrochemistry.’’

Bard’s scanning electrochemical microscope opened new windows into high-resolution chemical imaging and the observance of chemical reactions.

Bard once told an interviewer that he knew he wanted to be a scientist at a very early age. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University in 1958. At the University of Texas, he has mentored numerous masters- and doctorate-level students and published nearly 1,000 peer-reviewed papers and three books. He has been awarded 23 patents. He runs the university’s Center for Electrochemistry. Bard was also editor in chief of the Journal of the American Chemical Society from 1982 to 2001.

By Robert Warren