Franklin-Lavoisier Prize
The Franklin-Lavoisier Prize is the Science History Institute’s first international award. Named for Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Benjamin Franklin, two of the 18th century’s greatest minds, this prize recognizes meritorious efforts in the preservation or promotion of the entwined scientific heritage of France and the United States.
The Franklin-Lavoisier Prize was established in 2007 by the late Bernard Bigot who served as president of the Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, the Paris-based “house of chemistry” and cosponsor of the award.
The prize acknowledges commendable work in the preservation and highlighting of any aspect of our common scientific or industrial heritage in the fields of chemistry and its related applications, the promotion of the history of the chemical and molecular sciences and industries, or the fostering of closer Franco-American ties and the promotion of significant activities in the chemical sciences or industries. Accompanied by a monetary award of €15,000, this prestigious prize is presented alternately in the United States and France every two years.
2024 Awardee: Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent
Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent is Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her work focuses on the science of matter and materials in particular, and on the understanding of chemistry more broadly and its intellectual, cultural, and societal connections. Her diverse themes have inspired innovative research, both outside of France and beyond the history and philosophy of chemistry field.
Bensaude-Vincent is the author of more than 100 articles and books, including Histoire de la chimie (1993) and its English translation A History of Chemistry (1996); Lavoisier, Mémoires d’une révolution (1993); Éloge du mixte. Matériaux nouveaux et philosophie ancienne (1998); Se libérer de la matière? Fantasmes autour des nouvelles technologies (2004); Faut-il avoir peur de la chimie? (2005); Matière à penser. Essais d’histoire et de philosophie de la chimie (2008); and most recently Les Sciences dans la mêlée. Pour une culture de la défiance (2023).
In addition to being a member of the French National Academy of Technologies, her work has received numerous awards, including the Prix Jean Rostand Prize from the Académie des Sciences in 1994, the Dexter Award for Outstanding Achievements in the History of Chemistry from the American Chemical Society in 1997, the Marc-Auguste Pictet Medal from the Société de physique et d’histoire naturelle de Genève in 2010, and the George-Sarton Medal from the History of Science Society in 2021. Bensaude-Vincent was also a senior fellow at MIT’s Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology.
2024 Honorary Prize Awardee: Armand Lattes
Armand Lattes is Professor Emeritus at Paul Sabatier University in the Academy of Toulouse in France. He has made profound contributions to the history of chemistry in general and to the great chemists who worked in Toulouse and Southern France in particular. He has been committed to supporting research in chemical history and heritage throughout his entire career.
Lattes has received numerous awards and honors, including the Grammatikakis-Neumann Prize of the Académie des Sciences, the Achille-Le-Bel Grand Prize from the French Chemical Society, the Copernicus Medal from the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Van’t Hoff Prize from the Chemical Society of the Netherlands.
He served as president of the Société Chimique de France and the Société de Chimie industrielle; is a member of the l’Académie nationale de pharmacie and l’Académie européenne des sciences des arts et des lettres; and a corresponding member of the Spanish Academy of Sciences.
Winners of the Franklin-Lavoisier Prize
- Joseph Gal (2022)
- Mary Jo Nye and Alan Rocke (2020)
- Comité Lavoisier (2018)
- Lawrence M. Principe (2016)
- Fred Aftalion (2014)
- Maurice Hamon (2012)
- Philippe Walter (2010)
- Robin J. H. Clark (2008)
About the Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie
The Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie was founded in 1928 in Paris with the goal of building and maintaining a central meeting and working space to promote the popularization of science for chemists worldwide. To fulfill this mission, the organization provides several services and activities to facilitate cooperation among all those working to promote chemistry as one of the basic disciplines of science and technology.
