Education

Diploma in Chemical Engineering, 1977, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary
Ph. D. in Chemistry, 1979, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary

Professional Affiliations

Department of Chemistry, Veterinary University, Budapest, Hungary, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, September 1, 1979 – March 31, 1981
Chinoin Pharmaceutical and Chemical Works Ltd., Budapest, Hungary, Research Engineer, April 1, 1981 – December 31, 1981
Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA, Postdoctoral Research Associate, January 1, 1982 – August 31, 1984
Department of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland, Scientific Co–worker, September 1, 1984 – September 15, 1987
Corporate Research, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, NJ, USA, Senior Staff Chemist, September 17, 1987 – November 30, 1998
Department of Organic Chemistry, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, Scientific Advisor, January 1, 1999 – June 30, 2001
Department of Chemical Technology and Environmental Chemistry, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, Chairman, December 1, 2004 – April 15, 2006
Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, Professor, July 1, 2001 – April 30, 2009; Deputy Director for Science, February 15, 2006 – July 30, 2008;
Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Head, May 4, 2009 – July 31, 2015
Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Chair Professor, May 4, 2009 – present

Teaching

Green Chemistry course at BSc level
Chemistry for Sustainable Life course at MSc level
Industrial Chemistry course at BSc level
Sustainable and Green Chemistry course at MSc level
Supervising undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows

Current Research Interests

The application of the principles of green chemistry in environmentally friendly product and process development including the use of alternative media such as water, fluorous and ionic liquids for facile reagent and catalyst separation.
Development of a sustainable chemical technology by the use of green catalyst design
Development of a sustainable fluorous chemistry
Valorization of agricultural residues and food wastes
Development of a novel water desalination technology
Gamma-valerolactone economy for the production of energy and carbon based chemicals
Mechanistic studies of homogeneous catalytic and organometallic reactions using in situ IR and NMR spectroscopy.

Publications

Publications and Presentations as of July 1, 2015

Papers: 103; Reviews: 14; Book chapters and conference proceedings: 30; Books: 6; Patents: 22; Invited lectures: 138; Invited seminars: 214

Web of Science citations: 6084 and h-index: 39

Google Scholar citations: 7532, h-index: 38, and i10-index: 103

1979-1985, 1986-1990, 1991-1995, 1996-2000, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011 –
Download all publications in pdf

Editorial Services

Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Chemical Reviews, 1993 –
Member of the Editorial Board for Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 1995 – 2004
Member of the International Advisory Board for Organometallic Synthesis, 1995 –
Guest Editor of a thematic (Green) issue on Environmental Chemistry, Chemical Reviews, January/February, 1995
Guest Editor of a thematic issue on Catalysis in Water of the Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 1997, 116, 1–316.
Editor–in–Chief of the Encyclopedia of Catalysis, Wiley & Sons Inc., 1997 – 2002.
Member of the Advisory Board for Industrial Catalysis News, 1997 – 1999.
Member of the Advisory Board for Green Chemistry, 1998 – 2001.
Guest Editor of a special issue on Green Chemistry, Accounts of Chemical Research, 2002, 35, 685–816.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Accounts of Chemical Research, 2001 – 2003.
Member of the International Advisory Editorial Board for Dalton Transactions, 2001 –
Editor of the Encyclopedia of Catalysis – On–line (www.enccat.com), Wiley & Sons Inc., 2003 –
Co–Guest Editor (with Paul Anastas) of a special issue on Green Chemistry, Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107, 2167
Member of the International Advisory Board for ChemSusChem, 2008 –
Editor–in–Chief of the 2nd Edition of Encyclopedia of Catalysis, Wiley & Sons Inc., 2008 –
Member of the Advisory Board for Green Chemistry, 2010 –
Editor of Fluorous Chemistry in Topics in Current Chemistry, Springer, 2010 – 2011.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 2013 –
Member of the Editorial Board for International Journal of Experimental Spectroscopic Techniques, 2015 –

Organization of Scientific Meetings

Co–chairman of the 15th National Science Foundation National Organometallic Chemistry Workshops, May 17–20, 1991, Annandale, New Jersey, USA
Co–chairman of the First Exxon Frontiers of Science Workshop on Catalysis and Catalytic Processes, November 15–18, 1991, Annandale, New Jersey, USA
Co–chairman of the 16th National Science Foundation National Organometallic Chemistry Workshops, May 7–10, 1992, Snowbird, Utah, USA
Co–Vice chair of the 1992 Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, July 27–31, 1992, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Co–Chairman of the 1993 Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, July 12–16, 1993, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Co–chairman of the 17th National Science Foundation National Organometallic Chemistry Workshops, May 13–16, 1993, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Co–Director of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Aqueous Organometallic Chemistry and Catalysis, August 29 – September 1, 1994, Debrecen, Hungary
Co–Organizer of the ACS Symposium on Organometallic Chemistry and Catalysis in Water, ACS Spring Meeting, April 2–7, 1995, Anaheim, California, USA
Chairman of the 10th International Symposium on Homogeneous Catalysis, August 11 – 16, 1996, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Co–Director of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Management of Chemical Research, Development and Innovation, August 31 – September 11, 1998, Budapest, Hungary
Co–Organizer of the ACS Symposium on Environmental Aspects of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry, ACS Fall Meeting, August 22–26, 1999, New Orleans, LA, USA
Co–Vice chair of the 1999 Gordon Research Conference on Green Chemistry, July 11–16, 1999, Oxford, United Kingdom
Co–Chairman of the 2000 Gordon Research Conference on Green Chemistry, July 15–20, 2000, Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA
Co–Organizer of the ACS Symposium on Process Analytical Chemistry in Support of Green Chemistry, ACS Spring Meeting, April 1–5, 2001, San Diego, CA, USA
Program Committee Member of the IUPAC CHEMRAWN XIV World Conference on Green Chemistry: Toward Environmentally Benign Processes and Products, June 9–13, 2001, Boulder, CO, USA
Scientific Committee Member of the Conference on Green Solvents for Catalysis, October 13–16, 2002, Bruchsal, Germany
Co–Organizer of the Symposium on Organometallic Catalysis in Alternative Solvent Systems, American Chemical Society Fall Meeting, September 7–11, 2003, New York, NY, USA
Organizing Committee Member of the International Conference on Green Chemistry, June 21–25, 2005, Washington, D.C., USA
International Advisory Committee Member of the 1st International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies, July 4–7, 2005, Bordeaux, France
Chairman of the XVI FECHEM Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, September 3–8, 2005, Budapest, Hungary
International Advisory Committee Member of the 2nd International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies, July 29–31, 2007, Yokohama, Japan
Member of the International Scientific Committee, UBIOCHEM-I, Utilization of biomass for fuels and chemicals: the road to sustainability, COST Action CM0903, Córdoba, Spain, May, 13–15, 2010.
Member of the Advisory Board, Green Solvents Conference, Berchtesgaden, Germany, October 11 – 13, 2010.
International Advisory Committee Member of the 3rd International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, August 23-28, 2009.
Chairman of the 18th Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong, April, 30, 2011.
Member of the International Organizing Committee and Session Chair, 15th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference and the 5th International Conference on Green & Sustainable Chemistry, Washington, DC, USA, June 21–23, 2011.
Montego Bay Group Workshop on Advanced Reaction Environments, Hong Kong, November 28–30, 2011
Chairman of the 4th International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies, Hong Kong, November 28 – December 3, 2011.
Member of the International Advisory Committee, 3rd Asian-Oceanian Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Melbourne, Australia, December 5-7, 2011.
1st Hong Kong NMR Workshop, Hong Kong, December 12-14, 2011.
Co-Organizer of the Symposium on Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society Spring Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA, March 25-29, 2012.
Member of the International Advisory Board, 5th International Symposium on Fluorous Technologies, Budapest, Hungary, June 2-5, 2013.
Member of the International Advisory Board, 6th International Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Nottingham, UK, August 4-7, 2013.
Member of the International Advisory Committee, 4th Asian-Oceanian Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, New Taipei City, Taiwan, November 3 – 6, 2013.
Member of the International Advisory Board, 7th Green Solvents Conference, Dresden, Germany, October 19-22, 2014.
Member of the International Advisory Committee, 5th Asian-Oceanian Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, New Delhi, India, January 15-17, 2015.
Member of the International Advisory Board, 7th International Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Japan, 2015.
Member of the International Advisory Board, 17th International Symposium on Relations between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis (ISHHC17), Utrecht, Netherlands, July 12-15, 2015.
Chairman of the 6th Asian-Oceanian Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Hong Kong, November 30 – December 3, 2016.

Committee Services

Member of review panels for the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, US Civilian Research and Development Foundation, 1992 –
Chairman of a review panel for the US Civilian Research and Development Foundation on Electrical, Materials & Manufacturing Sciences & Engineering, February – July, 1996
Member of the Exxon Chemical Research Committee, 1997–1998 Member of the International Advisory Board of the International Homogeneous Catalysis Symposia, 1997 –
Member of the International Advisory Board of the International Symposia on Relationship Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis, 1998 – 2001
Chairman of the Scientific Committee, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, 1999 – 2002.
Member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Symposia on Catalysis Applied for Fine Chemicals, 2001–
Chairman of the COST Action D29 on Sustainable/Green Chemistry and Chemical Technology, European Commission/European Science Foundation, 2002 – 2007.
Chairman of the Scientific Committee, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, 2006 – 2008
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, CatchBio (www.catchbio.nl), 2007 –
Member of AON, 2009 –
Member of the Physical Science Panel of the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong, China, 2009 –
Member of the Honorary Awards Committee, City University of Hong Kong, China, 2010 – 2011
Member of the International Advisory Board of the Centre in Green Chemistry and Catalysis, McGill University and Université de Montréal, 2012 –
Member of the Admission Panel of the Technology Business Incubation Programme of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, 2012 –

Honors

First Award, Hungarian Scientific Student Conference, Kazincbarcika, Hungary, 1977
First Award for Diploma Thesis, Hungarian Chemical Society, Budapest, Hungary, 1978
Research Team Award, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, 1981
Ministerial Commendation, Hungarian Ministry of Education, Budapest, Hungary, 1981
Exxon Golden Tiger Award, Exxon Research & Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey, USA, 1991
Best Paper Award, Exxon Chemical Research Annual Meeting, Galveston, Texas, 1995 D. Sc. in Chemistry, 1998,
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Dr. Hab., 1999, Veszprém University, Veszprém, Hungary
Széchenyi Professor Scholarship, 2000–2003, Ministry of Culture and Education, Budapest, Hungary, 1999
1st Fluorous Technology Award, International Symposium of Fluorous Technology, Bordeaux, France, July 3–5, 2005
Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany, 2006
Special Award for Organizing the XVI. FECHEM Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, Hungarian Chemical Society, Budapest, Hungary, 2006.
Invited Professor, Université Bordeaux I, Bordeaux, France, 2007
Invited Professor, Université Rennes I, Rennes, France, 2008
Invited Professor, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 2008
Green Chemistry Lecture Award at the Conference on Green Solvents sponsored by Green Chemistry, Royal Society of Chemistry, Lake Constance, Friedrichshafen, Germany, 2008
Invited Professor, Khatolieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 2009.
Foundation for Inorganic Chemistry Visitor and Lecturer, The University of Sydney, Australia, 2009.
Honorary Member, National Academy of Sciences Literature and Arts of Modena, Italy, 2010.
Vice President of the Rotary Club Kowloon North, 2010/2011.
President-elect of the Rotary Club Kowloon North, 2011/2012.
President of the Rotary Club Kowloon North, 2012/2013.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013.
Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2014.

Memberships

American Chemical Society, 1982 –
Royal Society of Chemistry, 1987 –
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993 –
Rotary Club Budapest–Sasad, 1999 – 2009
Hungarian Chemical Society, 2003 –
Member of the Rotary Club Kowloon North, Hong Kong, 2009 –