US scientist of Palestinian descent among three winners of Nobel Prize in chemistry

By Agencies and ToI Staff 8 October 2025, 2:38 pm

1 Edit

(L to R) Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Hans Ellegren, Secretary General of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Olof Ramstroem, Member of the Nobel Committe for Chemistry, address a press conference to announce Japan's Susumu Kitagawa, UK-born Richard Robson and American-Jordanian Omar M. Yaghi as the winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 8, 2025. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP)

Omar M. Yaghi wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry, together with Susumu Kitagawa of Japan and UK-born Richard Robson of Australia, for work in the development of metal-organic frameworks.

Yaghi, born to Palestinian refugee parents in 1965 in Amman, Jordan, is affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley. He moved to the US by himself at 15 for an education, according to a profile from the California university. He also holds Saudi citizenship.

Hans Ellegren, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announces the chemistry prize in Stockholm. It is the third prize announced this week.