A Cornell University chemistry professor has been named a co-winner of the Balzan Prize for research aimed at turning renewable materials and recovered carbon dioxide into high-performance plastics that can be degraded or recycled.
Geoffrey Coates, the Tisch University Professor of chemistry and chemical biology in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, received the award in the category of biodegradable polymers from renewable sources.
The International Balzan Foundation awards four prizes each year in fields that change annually. Each prize is worth about $930,000, with half required to support research projects led by young scholars and scientists.
Coates shares the award with Marc A. Hillmyer of the University of Minnesota.
The foundation cited the researchers for their work combining molecular design and catalysis to create sustainable polymers from renewable feedstocks and recovered carbon dioxide, while also advancing those discoveries toward industrial materials and technologies.
Coates said the honor reflects nearly three decades of work involving students, postdoctoral researchers, colleagues and collaborators at Cornell.
“I see it as recognition of a collective effort over the past 29 years,” Coates said.
His research focuses on the intersection of organic, inorganic and materials chemistry, with applications involving environmentally safer polymers, chemical synthesis, renewable resources and materials used for energy storage and conversion.
Cornell chemistry department chair Tristan Lambert said Coates’ work has helped move sustainable polymer research from theory toward industrial use.
The award also gives Coates additional resources to continue research on sustainable plastics while supporting younger scientists.
Coates said that opportunity is one of the most important aspects of the prize and could allow his group to pursue more ambitious research questions.
The Balzan Prize adds to a growing list of honors for Coates. He has also received the 2026 Benjamin Franklin Prize, the National Academy of Sciences Award for the Industrial Application of Science, the Eni Award, the Gustavus John Esselen Award, the Newcomb Cleveland Prize and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.
He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Inventors and American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
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