1. John Polanyi was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in chemical kinetics.
35 Facts About John Polanyi
1. 2.
Outside his scientific pursuits, John Polanyi is active in public policy discussion, especially concerning science and nuclear weapons.
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John Polanyi's father, Mihaly, was a noted chemist and philosopher.
4.
John Polanyi's uncle, Karoly was a renowned political economist, best known for his seminal work, The Great Transformation.
5.
John Polanyi's father Michael was born Jewish and converted to Catholicism.
6.
John Polanyi's family moved from Germany to Britain in 1933, partly as a result of the persecution of Jews under Adolf Hitler.
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John Polanyi's father, Michael Polanyi, was a professor in the chemistry department during his first year of university, before transferring to a newly created position in the social studies department.
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John Polanyi started at the University of Toronto as a lecturer in 1956.
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John Polanyi moved up the ranks quickly at the university, being promoted to assistant professor in 1957, associate professor in 1960 and becoming a full professor in 1962.
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John Polanyi was influenced by studies conducted at Princeton looking at the vibrationally excited reaction products between atomic hydrogen and ozone.
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When John Polanyi moved to the University of Toronto, his first graduate students were looking for enhanced reaction rates with vibrationally excited hydrogen, as well as looking for the presence of vibrationally excited hydrogen chloride during the exothermic reaction of molecular chlorine with atomic hydrogen.
12.
John Polanyi founded Canada's Pugwash group in 1960, and served as the chairman for the group from its inception until 1978.
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John Polanyi has been a supporter of "pure" science, and a critic of government policies that do not support such research.
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John Polanyi is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.
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John Polanyi often accepts speaking engagements to discuss issues relating to social justice, peace and nuclear proliferation, despite his busy research schedule.
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John Polanyi currently serves on the National Advisory Board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the research arm of Council for a Livable World.
17.
John Polanyi was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in chemical kinetics.
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John Polanyi shared the prize with Dudley Herschbach of Harvard University and Yuan T Lee of the University of California.
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John Polanyi had mixed feelings about the impact of the Nobel Prize on his research, feeling that his name on research proposals and papers often brought additional scrutiny, and had people questioning his dedication to science after the honour.
20.
John Polanyi's Nobel medal is on display at Massey College where he is a Senior Fellow.
21.
John Polanyi was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1971.
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In 1974, John Polanyi was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
23.
In 2007, John Polanyi was awarded the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
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John Polanyi has received many honorary degrees from 25 institutions, including Waterloo in 1970, Harvard University in 1982, Ottawa in 1987, and Queen's in 1992.
25.
John Polanyi is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry of the United Kingdom and the Chemical Institute of Canada.
26.
John Polanyi was pictured on a Canada Post first class postage stamp on 3 October 2011, issued to salute the International Year of Chemistry.
27.
In 1992, John Polanyi was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council of Canada.
28.
John Polanyi's writing is not limited to his scientific interests, as he has published over 100 articles on policy, the impact of science on society and armament control.
29.
John Polanyi was born in 1929 to Michael and Magda Elizabeth Kemeny John Polanyi in Berlin, Germany.
30.
John Polanyi's uncle, Karl was an economist, noted for his criticism of market capitalism.
31.
Mihaly Pollacsek Magyarised the family's name to John Polanyi, but did not change his own name.
32.
The John Polanyi's were non-observant Jews, although Michael John Polanyi became a Christian.
33.
John Polanyi's daughter is a journalist, and his son is a political scientist who started his career as a physicist.
34.
Outside his scientific and policy endeavours, John Polanyi's interests include art, literature and poetry.
35.
John Polanyi was an avid white water canoeist in his younger days, but has replaced that with walking and skiing.