Nobel Laureateโ Yaghi Credits US Publicโ Education for His Success
Omar M. Yaghi,โ the 2023 โNobel Prize in Chemistry laureate born toโ Palestinian refugee parents in Jordan, emphasized the crucial role of publicly funded American education adn research in his career during a recent address. Hisโ comments came amidst discussions surrounding potential disruptionsโ toโข university funding in the United States.
Yaghi stated, “This award is proof โคof the strength of the public education system in the โunited States that welcomes individuals like me, from a disadvantaged โbackground, a refugee family, and allows them to work hardโข and excel.”
Growing up in Amman, Jordan, yaghi โฃexperienced a childhood marked by hardship. His family lacked basic amenities like electricity andโ running water. His father completed only sixth grade, and his mother โขwas illiterate.โ Despite โthese challenges, Yaghi’s parents dedicated themselves to their children’s education, viewing it as a pathway to a better life for the entire family.
born in 1965, Yaghi immigrated to theโ United States โat age 15, encouraged โฃby โขhis father who saw it as an โคpossibility for โคadvancement. Even as โa young student,โ he was captivated by theโข visual complexity of molecularโฃ structures, recalling being drawn to “incomprehensible butโฃ engaging” images in โฃtextbooks. “I fell โฃin love wiht them before I knew they were molecules,” he shared.
To finance his studies at the state University of New York in โAlbany,โข Yaghi worked various โjobs, including cleaning floors โฃand distributingโ shopping inserts.He earned his doctorate from โฃthe University of Illinois in 1990โ and afterward held positions at โmultipleโฃ universities before joining the University of California,Berkeley in 2012.
Yaghi underscored the necessityโค of publicโข investment in scientific research, stating, “Science โcosts โmoney; it’s an investmentโค in the future.” โHe lauded the American systemโข of higher education and research as โข”amazing,” describing science as “a jewel โin the crown of our country” that must be protected.
He also highlightedโค the worldwide potential forโ talent, arguing that opportunities are key to unlocking it. “Science is a huge โคforce allowing equality,” Yaghi asserted.
Yaghi was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with โSusumu โKitagawa and โRichard Robson for their pioneering research on metal-organic frameworks, a field with applications โฃincluding โฃthe capture of carbon dioxide and water from theโ atmosphere, even in arid โขenvironments.