Song Lin, the Howard Milstein Faculty Fellow/Tisch University Professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), is a finalist for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, an honor announced Sept. 9 by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences.
Recognized for advancing electrochemical techniques that enable efficient, sustainable synthesis of complex organic molecules, accelerating drug development, and materials innovation, Lin is a finalist in Chemical Sciences. Three 2025 Blavatnik Laureates – in Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences & Engineering – will be announced at a ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History Oct. 7.
The Lin Lab does research in organic chemistry, with specific interests in electrosynthesis, catalysis and technology development. Lin and colleagues use their expertise in organic chemistry and electrochemistry to develop new catalytic methods to address unsolved problems in organic and materials synthesis.
In 2023, Lin won the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, which recognizes contributions to organic chemistry. He also received a 2022 Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Fresenius Award from Phi Lambda Upsilon, the national chemistry honor society, in 2021. Lin became an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in 2019 and received the National Science Foundation’s Career Award in 2018.
“The goal of the Blavatnik Awards is to recognize early-career scientists conducting bold and creative work, support their professional growth and development and accelerate scientific discovery to improve lives and drive innovation,” said Len Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries and head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Each Blavatnik laureate will receive an unrestricted award of $250,000. The remaining 15 Finalists will each receive $15,000. By the close of 2025, the Blavatnik Awards will have recognized over 500 scientists from 120 international research institutions and awarded prizes totaling nearly $20 million.
“From new tools and technologies for environmental sustainability and climate resiliency to novel therapies to cure disease and insights into the fundamental physics underpinning the world around us, their research is advancing science and protecting our planet,” said Nicholas B. Dirks, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Awards’ Scientific Advisory Council.
In 2024, Britney Schmidt, associate professor of astronomy (A&S) and of earth and atmospheric sciences in Cornell Engineering, was named a Blavatnik laureate for physical sciences and engineering.
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