Peter J. Dunn Awards for Green Chemistry & Engineering Impact in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Description
The Peter J. Dunn Awards were established in 2016 by the ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS GCIPR) to recognize excellence in the research, development and execution of green chemistry that demonstrates compelling environmental, safety and efficiency improvements over current technologies in the pharmaceutical industry and its allied industrial partners. The inaugural award was given to Peter J. Dunn of Pfizer, and the award was subsequently named in his honor. The awards recognize greener and more sustainable synthetic routes and their associated processes to Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) or intermediates, reaction conditions, and chemical or manufacturing process technologies across modalities. The submission should highlight the green and sustainable chemistry accomplishments at meaningful scale and must detail their significance (e.g., reduction in process mass intensity, waste reduction, robustness, environmental, health and safety impact reduction or elimination, reduction in the use of toxic and/or hazardous chemicals, solvents, reagents, etc.). The innovations should be significant and ones that go beyond routine process development optimization. The awards will be presented at the Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference. The recipient, or a member of the winning team, will be invited to share their technology in an oral presentation at this event. The recipient’s transportation, lodging and registration fees for the conference are reimbursable up to $2,500 USD (additional funds available for international travel following ACS guidelines). The recipient or winning team will also receive a plaque recognizing the achievement and certificates will be given to each team member.
Eligibility
New accomplishments relative to the design principles of green chemistry at meaningful scale are eligible for this award. Nominations must detail the significance (i.e., in yield, waste reduction, robustness, environmental impact, reduction of toxic and/or hazardous chemicals, etc.) of the chemistry or engineering. The Peter J. Dunn Award recognizes the accomplishments of individuals—whether they be individual contributions or as part of team efforts. Therefore, the ACS GCIPR strongly encourages individuals to apply. However, please note that this is not a career achievement award, rather the focus is on a specific innovative technology developed by the nominee. Nominations may also include teams of up to ten people. The goal is to recognize both pioneering industrial scientists, as well as the best of green chemistry innovations, to inspire all pharmaceutical scientists (or allied industrial partners) to ever greater sustainability. Note: Previous winning submissions from the EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Award are not eligible.
Application
Nominations are closed for the 2025 awards. Please check back in Fall 2026 for the next call for nominations.
Please use our online application portal to submit your application.
Examples of Successful Submissions:
A panel of industry peers will evaluate the applications. Up to two awards may be given per cycle. Chemistry enhances lives across the globe and green chemistry is the path to enhanced sustainability. The ACS GCIPR looks forward to receiving your submission to be considered as the best at pharmaceutical green chemistry development.