ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Employees Honored as 2008 Heroes of Chemistry by American Chemical Society

August 15, 2008

Award recognizes ExxonMobil's development of a new type of catalyst that allows refineries to produce cleaner diesel fuel

Scientists from ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company - Michael C. Kerby, Ph.D., Ernie Lewis, Ph.D., Stephen J. McCarthy, Sabato Miseo, Kenneth Lloyd Riley, Ph.D., and Stuart L. Soled, Ph.D., - will be honored as Heroes of Chemistry Aug. 17 in Philadelphia during the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

Responding to more stringent air pollution regulations for diesel fuel sulfur content, the ExxonMobil researchers, in collaboration with Albemarle Corporation, developed and commercialized a new type of catalyst, called Nebula, that allows refineries to produce cleaner diesel fuel.

"Heroes of Chemistry strives for greater recognition of scientists like these who, like chemistry itself, often wear a cloak of invisibility so far as public awareness is concerned," said Bruce E. Bursten, Ph.D., president of the American Chemical Society and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. "Their dedication and scientific contributions save lives and make life healthier and happier for billions of people around the world."

The awards ceremony and dinner in the Four Seasons hotel will include a keynote speech by former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison. Jemison, a physician and chemical engineer, became the first black woman to travel in space when she flew on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.