Jean-Marie Lehn, a leading figure in scientific excellence
Among the great scientists who have left their mark onthe University of Strasbourg, Jean-Marie Lehn is one of the most distinguished. Trained in Strasbourg, where he spent most of his academic career, and later awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987, he is one of the founders of supramolecular chemistry and a pioneer in the concepts of molecular recognition and self-organization. His work has led to numerous applications, such as the development of next-generation heart valves that grow along with children’s hearts.
Because he embodies academic excellence and fundamental research that has led to numerous societal applications, the Foundation wished to name itself after him—a request the professor accepted in 2022. Thomas Ebbesen emphasizes the strong symbolic significance of this rebranding and what it represents: “The Foundation takes immense pride in upholding the values of humanism, openness, and innovation that Jean-Marie Lehn embodies.”
Jean-Marie Lehn's Laboratory: 60 Years of Research and Knowledge Sharing
Founded in 1965 in Strasbourg, Jean-Marie Lehn’s laboratory has been home to more than 460 researchers of all nationalities and played a key role in the emergence of supramolecular chemistry, before expanding its research areas to include catalysis and supramolecular transport, self-organization, and “constitutional dynamic chemistry,” and eventually settled permanently at the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS), which he founded in 2002. A demanding and international training ground, it has nurtured numerous talented researchers, including Jean-Pierre Sauvage, himself a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016; Jean-Marie Lehn has always made a point of maintaining close, direct contact with his students, without intermediaries, and he often likes to remind them that mistakes—when they result from rigorous work—can lead to discoveries. True to this commitment to excellence and curiosity, he sums up his dedication as follows: “As long as I can, I’ll keep going!”
