Finlayson-Pitts receives L’Oréal-UNESCO International Award

AirUCI founder and co-Director Barbara Finlayson-Pitts has received the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award for 2025!   These awards are presented annually to highlight scientific excellence and encourage talent.  Each year an international jury selects five outstanding women scientists as laureates, one from each of the following regions—Africa and the Arab States; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and North America. Awardees are women who have contributed to scientific progress through their research, the strength of their commitments, and their impact on society.  Barbara was recognised for her groundbreaking research into how chemicals released into the atmosphere react to form new air pollutants and influence climate change.  She joins AirUCI alumna Najat Saliba, who received this award in 2019 which means that AirUCI has produced not one, but two L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awardees!  Najat was a postdoc in Barbara’s research group in 2008 and went on to a professorship at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.  She was elected to the Lebanese Parliament in 2022. 

L’Oréal-UNESCO sent a film crew to AirUCI arriving at the end of March and for three days they followed Barbara as she sat for interviews, conducted research in her labs, taught her Chemistry class, led her weekly group meeting, and interacted with researchers, students, and collaborators.  The crew will use their footage to produce a biographical film which will be shown at the awards ceremony on June 12, 2025 in Paris, France.  We are thrilled to congratulate Barbara on this exceptional and well deserved honor.  We look forward to the full report and details from the ceremony.  Read the press release   Read the campus article