DuPont announced that Nora Radu, Ph.D., DuPont Senior Laureate, has received the 2025 American Chemical Society (ACS) Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry, marking a historical milestone as the first industrial scientist to achieve this prestigious honor since the award was established in 1963.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award which recognizes both impactful research and dedicated service to the broader inorganic community,” said Radu. “This award is not just a personal milestone but also a reflection of the incredible support and collaboration I have had throughout my career. I hope it inspires more industrial scientists, especially women in industry, to pursue impactful research in inorganic chemistry.”

With more than 25 years of significant contributions at DuPont, Radu has advanced research and product development across multiple industries through inorganic chemistry and material science. Early in her career, Radu had a key role in advancing DuPont’s nylon products, through research focused on the development of catalysts for nylon 66 intermediates that improved cost efficiency and promoted broader industry adoption. More recently, supporting the electronics industry, she initiated dielectric material developments, which led to a multigenerational platform of polyimides for advanced packaging substrates, enabling high-performance computing in data centers and AI applications.

Radu also led the development of novel colorless and amber liquid polyimide films, a breakthrough innovation that enabled a new generation of durable, flexible displays for mobile and other electronic devices. Today, Radu’s research is enabling new offerings for advanced OLED displays, including OLED materials for improved lifetime and display performance. Over her career, Radu has been granted more than 60 patents, authored 20 internal reports and published 17 scientific papers.