The 2007 Laureates / Advanced Technology Category / Materials Science and Engineering

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Hiroo Inokuchi

Japan / February 3, 1927
Chemist; Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo and Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences

"Pioneering and Fundamental Contributions to Organic Molecular Electronics"
Dr. Hiroo Inokuchi initiated pioneering research on electrical conduction between molecules with benzene rings and established the scientific foundation for studying the electrical conductivity of organic materials. Further, he systematically elucidated an electronic structure of a wide variety of organic materials by photoelectron spectroscopy. Through a series of such studies, he established the academic base essential for studying the electronic properties, making fundamental contributions to the subsequent development of organic molecular electronics.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

1927
Born in Hiroshima, Japan
1950-1959
Research Associate, School of Science, The University of Tokyo (1955-1957 Ramsay Fellow, The University of Nottingham)
1956
D.Sc., The University of Tokyo
1959-1960
Associate Professor, School of Science, The University of Tokyo
1960-1966
Associate Professor, Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo
1967-1975
Professor, Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo
1975-present
Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
1975-1987
Professor, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki National Research Institute
1987-1993
Director General, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki National Research Institute
1993-1995
President, Okazaki National Research Institute
1995-present
Emeritus Professor, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki National Research Institute (currently National Institutes of Natural Sciences)
1996-2003
Chief Scientist, Space Utilization Research Programme, National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)
2001-present
Academic Counselor, International Institute for Advanced Studies
2003-present
Consultant to the President, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
2005-present
Distinguished Consultant, Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
2006-present
Chairman, Japan Space Forum

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS

1965
Japan Academy Prize, The Japan Academy
1978
The Chemical Society of Japan Award, The Chemical Society of Japan
1989
Fujihara Award, The Fujihara Foundation of Science
1994
Person of Cultural Merit, Japan
2001
Order of Culture, Japan
Member:
The Japan Academy, The Chinese Academy of Science

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1950
On the Electrical Conductibity of Violanthrone, Iso-Violanthrone and Pyranthrone, The Journal of Chemical Physics 18: 810-811 (Akamatsu, H. and Inokuchi, H.).
1954
Photoconductivity of Condensed Polynuclear Aromatic Compounds, Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan 27: 22-27.
1954
Electrical Conductivity of the Perylene-Bromine Complex, Nature 173: 168-169 (Akamatu, H., Inokuchi, H. and Matsunaga, Y.).
1961
Electrical Conductivity of Organic Semiconductors, Solid State Physics 12: 93-148 (with Akamatsu, H.).
1964
"Organic Semiconductors", Maki Shoten Publishing Co., p.201. (in Japanese).
1986
A Novel Type of Organic Semiconductors. Molecular Fastener. Chemistry Letters : 1263-1266 (with Saito, G., Wu, P., Seki, K., Tang, T.B., Mori, T., Imaeda, K., Enoki, T., Higuchi, Y., Inaka, K. and Yasuoka, N.).