At the 29th North American Catalysis Society Meeting (NAM29), held in June 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), Professor Bert Weckhuysen was formally presented with the 2025 Michel Boudart Award for the Advancement of Catalysis. This biennial award, jointly administered by the European Federation of Catalysis Societies (EFCATS) and the North American Catalysis Society (NACS), honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the understanding and advancement of heterogeneous catalysis. Bert received the award in recognition of his groundbreaking work in the foundation, development, and application of spatiotemporal operando spectroscopy to elucidate the active site in catalyst materials. The award, which includes a plaque and a $6,000 prize, was presented during a plenary session at NAM29 by Dr. Poul Georg Moses of Haldor Topsoe (the award sponsor) and Professor Jingguang Chen of Columbia University (NY, USA), who serves as president of NACS. As part of the honor, Bert also delivered a plenary lecture at the conference (“Operando Spectroscopy of Heterogenous Catalysts: Foundation, Developments & Applications”) and is scheduled to speak at the upcoming 16th European Congress on Catalysis (EuropaCat 2025, August 31-September 5) in Trondheim, Norway.
