Prof. Vivian Wing-Wah YAM

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professor Yam’s major research interests are in the areas of inorganic and organometallic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, photochemistry and solar energy research.

She was elected to Member of The Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001 at the age of 38 as the youngest member of the Academy. 

She was also elected the Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2012, Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS) in 2006, and Foreign Member of Academia Europaea in 2015.

Professor Yam obtained both her BSc with First Class Honours and PhD from The University of Hong Kong. After two years on the faculty at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong (now City University of Hong Kong), she moved to The University of Hong Kong in 1990, rising through the academic ranks of Senior Lecturer (1995), Professor (1997) and Chair Professor (1999). 

She was Head of Chemistry for 6 years from 2000 to 2005, and became the Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy in 2009 at The University of Hong Kong. 

She was the Laureate of the 2011 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award and recipient of the 2005/06 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Centenary Medal, 2015 RSC Ludwig Mond Award, 2005 State Natural Science Award, 2006 Japanese Photochemistry Association Eikohsha Award, 2014 Chinese Chemical Society-China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) Chemistry Contribution Prize, Docteur Honoris Causa (Université de Rennes 1, 2013), 2013 Seaborg Lectureship (UC Berkeley), 2015/16 Julia S. and Edward C. Lee Memorial Lectureship (Lee Lectureship) (University of Chicago), 2011 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress, 2007 Hong Kong Fulbright Distinguished Scholar, 2000-01 Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellowship, 2002 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong and 2008 Hong Kong Outstanding Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Award.  

Professor Yam serves as the Associate Editor of the SCI journal, Inorganic Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society. She also serves on the International Editorial Advisory Board of major SCI journals, such as Accounts of Chemical Research, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, Chemical Science, ACS Nano, Chemistry of Materials and Editorial Board of Coordination Chemistry Reviews, Journal of the Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews and many others. 

In 2020, Professor Yam took up the role as the Chief Editor for Chemistry for a new premier international journal Natural Sciences.

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