DuPont Announces 2025 Lavoisier Medal and Pedersen Award Recipients

Five DuPont scientists and engineers honored for innovations that have made significant contributions to the company, customers, industries and the world.

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPont (NYSE:DD) today announced the recipients of the 2025 Lavoisier Medal for Lifetime Technical Achievement and the Pedersen Award.

The 2025 Lavoisier Medalists are Steve Jons, Senior Laureate, Water Solutions and Sourav Sengupta, Laureate, Engineering. The Lavoisier Medal for Lifetime Technical Achievement recognizes scientists and engineers who have demonstrated a career of creative and groundbreaking technical contributions with significant business impact. It is named in honor of the 18th century French chemist, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, considered the father of modern chemistry. 

The Pedersen Award recipients are Chris Seay, Senior Engineering Laureate, Aramids; Rupert Spence, Senior Technical Laureate, Science and Innovation; and Shintaro Yamada, Technical Manager, Lithography Technologies. The Pedersen Award is chosen by a select team of DuPont Laureates, those who have achieved the company's highest technical rank. This year's recipients' deep technical knowledge, expertise, bold achievements, and commitment in their respective businesses have resulted in critical new innovative products solutions for customers. The Pedersen Award is named in honor of DuPont's Nobel Laureate, Charles J. Pedersen, who received the 1987 Nobel Prize for his discovery of a novel class of chemical compounds called macrocyclic polyethers, which he dubbed "crown" ethers because of their molecular shape.

This year's Medalists and Awardees, along with the products and technologies they have developed throughout their distinguished careers, have had a significant impact on the growth and value for DuPont, its customers, and value chain partners. Their work has helped shape industries and made enormous strides in solving some of the world's most important challenges.

"It's a privilege to celebrate the accomplishments of this year's Lavoisier and Pedersen recipients," said Alexa Dembek, DuPont Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer. "Throughout their careers, Steve, Sourav, Chris, Rupert and Shintaro have shown remarkable dedication and commitment in bringing essential innovations to life; leading to transformative outcomes not just for our company, but also for our customers and society. I congratulate them on such a pinnacle career accomplishment and am deeply honored to call them colleagues."

Learn more about DuPont's 2025 Lavoisier Medalists and Pedersen Awardees:

Lavoisier Medalists

Steve Jons has over three decades of technical experience in developing and commercializing nanofiltration products that have had a tremendous impact on various industries, including the purification of municipal drinking water, treatment of offshore oil and gas production water, dairy production, and wastewater reuse. Steve has elevated the field of research in nanofiltration, helping to address global challenges related to water scarcity, sustainable energy use, and food supply shortages. He has been instrumental in the invention, development, and specialized characterization of FilmTec™ elements, leading to a cumulative business impact of over $1 billion. Steve has been a prolific inventor with 55 published patent families, 47 U.S. patents granted, and he has authored over 180 technical reports. In 2020, Steve was recognized as a "Hero of Chemistry" by the American Chemical Society.

Over his 30-plus year career with DuPont, Sourav Sengupta is well recognized as a world-class expert in the field of catalysis and reaction engineering. His work spans catalyst synthesis and manufacturing to reaction engineering, including reactor design, process development, and plant troubleshooting. His technical achievements have revolutionized industrial processes for chemicals and materials at DuPont and across industries, contributing more than $500 million in business impact. Among many contributions to several businesses across DuPont, two significant examples of Sourav's impact include the invention of a novel, "on-site" and "on-demand" catalytic hydrogen cyanide manufacturing process, delivering substantial cost savings for production of a key monomer for Nylon 6,6, and a cost-effective and safer process for the synthesis of a new co-monomer used as a precursor for Kevlar^® EXO™. Sourav holds over 60 issued and provisional U.S. patents, authored over 50 publications, and recently received the 2025 Lawrence B. Evans Award in Chemical Engineering Practice by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Pedersen Award Recipients

Chris Seay has been instrumental in pioneering a process innovation that advanced both the technical and commercial success of Kevlar^® EXO™. By rethinking traditional Kevlar^® processing and adapting technologies from other industries, Chris developed a novel unit operation that achieved significant results in product performance while also reducing reduced capital costs, simplifying operations, and minimizing production footprint. Chris's innovative processes directly enabled the critical performance attributes of Kevlar^® EXO™, a next-generation fiber that enhances comfort without compromising protection. Honored with a Gold Edison Award for "Critical Safety Material Advancements," Kevlar^® EXO™ is helping create safer environments across defense, space, energy, and emergency response sectors. With 20 years of experience in Kevlar^® and Nomex^® technologies, Chris's work exemplifies how process innovation drives product performance.

Rupert Spence has made critical scientific and engineering contributions to the commercialization of advanced OLED technology which enables enhanced brightness without sacrificing device lifetime, critical challenges for advanced displays for smartphones, TVs, and automotive applications. This breakthrough advancement has provided customers a 30% increase in brightness, while also improving display efficiency with a reduction in carbon footprint. Rupert's expertise in high-temperature and high-pressure chemistry was instrumental in scaling up this technology, using a complex multiphase reaction involving heterogeneous catalysis. Rupert holds 16 U.S. patents and multiple Canadian and foreign filings and has authored over 35 international journal articles. Rupert was recognized by the Canadian Society of Chemical Industry with the 2023 LeSueur Memorial Award.

Shintaro Yamada is a distinguished scientist and technical leader in the semiconductor industry whose contributions include the development of new technologies advancing photoresist and functional sub-layer material performance. Shintaro's extensive knowledge in polymer design and process simulation enabled embedded barrier layer (EBL) technology used in immersion lithography—a process that immerses photoresist materials in water and uses light at a wavelength of 193 nanometers, to print microscopic patterns onto silicon wafers. By embedding the barrier directly into the photoresist, EBL technology provides an option for a simplified fabrication process, reduces material usage, and lowers energy consumption—streamlining production while enhancing performance. Shintaro's bold innovations have supported the fabrication of faster, more power-efficient chips that drive technologies like artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and next-generation consumer electronics. Over his 34-year career, Shintaro's work has delivered more than $1 billion in value. He holds 36 U.S. patents and has authored 35 research studies in external publications. In 2025, Shintaro was recognized as a "Hero of Chemistry" by the American Chemical Society.

View the digital version of this announcement and see previous award recipients here. 

About DuPont
DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, healthcare and worker safety. More information about the company, its businesses and solutions can be found at www.dupont.com. Investors can access information included on the Investor Relations section of the website at investors.dupont.com.

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