Chem prof wins national honor

Penn Chemistry Professor Ralph Hirschmann has been named one of 12 winners of the 2000 National Medal of Science -- earning him both national publicity and a trip to the White House. On Tuesday, President Clinton announced that Hirschmann will receive the prestigious award for his research with organic and medicinal chemistry at a White House dinner on December 1. "These exceptional scientists and engineers have transformed our world and enhanced our daily lives," Clinton said in a statement released Tuesday. Hirschmann has developed medicines to fight high blood pressure, high cholesterol and prostate enlargement, among other health conditions. "Ralph Hirschmann is an outstanding scientist whose pathbreaking work in the field of chemistry has led to lifesaving medicines," University President Judith Rodin said in a statement. Hirschmann's win comes just weeks after Chemistry Professor Alan MacDiarmid won the Nobel Prize for his research on electricity-conducting plastics. Penn had not received the prestigious award since 1980. Provost Robert Barchi praised Hirschmann and Penn's Chemistry Department as a whole yesterday afternoon during a University Council meeting. "This is an extraordinary honor, and one which once again highlights just how exceptional our department of Chemistry and its individual scientists are," he said. Chemistry Department Chairman Hai-Lung Dai called the medal "the highest honor given to any scientist in the country." "This highlights not only the wonderful research of Dr. Hirschmann, but also how the Chemistry Department is coming into the national spotlight, " he said. Hirschmann's win comes almost a decade after he received the Arthur C. Cope Medal -- the American Chemical Society's highest honor for organic chemists -- in 1992. The professor's noteworthy contributions to science come from his 37-year tenure with the pharmaceutical company Merck, where he was once a senior vice president of basic research. He came to Penn in 1987 after retiring from Merck, and has since worked to link the company with Penn's biomedical community. At Merck, Hirschmann helped develop medicines for various conditions including hypertension and congestive heart failure. Hirschmann helped create Ivomec, a parasite-fighting drug that is now used to prevent river blindness -- the world's second-leading infectious cause of blindness -- in developing countries. In 1969, he revolutionized the world of chemistry when he became the first to synthesize the enzyme ribonuclease. And in 1952, Hirschmann discovered what he calls stereoelectronic control -- the ability for both electrons and atoms to control chemical transformations when specially arranged. Hirschmann is also an elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He has published numerous articles and is named as a contributor to over 100 patents.