Véronique Gouverneur facts for kids

Véronique Gouverneur is a famous chemist. She was born on November 8, 1964, in Geel, Belgium. She is currently a very important professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Before this, she worked at Merton College, Oxford. Her main area of study is fluorine chemistry, which has earned her many important awards.

Becoming a Scientist

Véronique Gouverneur studied chemistry at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. She earned her first degree in chemistry there. Then, in 1991, she completed her PhD, which is the highest university degree.

After finishing her studies in Belgium, she moved to the Scripps Research Institute in the United States in 1992. She returned to Europe in 1994. There, she became a Maître de Conférence at Louis Pasteur University. This is a teaching and research position, similar to an assistant professor.

Her Work and Discoveries

In 1998, Véronique Gouverneur joined the chemistry department at the University of Oxford. She became a senior researcher in 2006 and a full professor in 2008. In 2022, she was given the special title of Waynflete Professor of Chemistry. This is a very old and respected position that started in 1865.

Her research focuses on fluorine chemistry. This means she studies chemicals that contain the element fluorine. She chose this area because fluorine compounds are used in many important ways. For example, they are used to make pharmaceutical drugs that help people get well. They are also used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. PET scans are special medical tests that help doctors see what is happening inside the body.

She has also been a visiting professor at other universities. This means she taught or did research for a short time at places like the University of Paris X and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry.

Awards and Honors

Véronique Gouverneur has received many awards for her amazing work in chemistry. Here are some of them:

• In 2005, she won the AstraZeneca Research Award for her work in organic chemistry.
• In 2008, she received the Bader Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry. She won this for her important discoveries in making fluorine chemicals.
• In 2010, she was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. She also received the IUPAC Distinguished Woman in Chemistry Award.
• In 2013, the Royal Society in the UK gave her a special award called the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award.
• In 2015, she won an award from the American Chemical Society. This was for her work on adding fluorine to molecules later in their creation. It also recognized her work on using a special type of fluorine (¹⁸F) for PET scans.
• In 2016, she received the Tilden Prize for her work combining different areas of chemistry, especially fluorine chemistry and radiochemistry. This award recognized how her discoveries help medicine.
• In 2019, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
• In 2021, she was given the Henri Moissan International Prize for her ongoing work in fluorine chemistry.
• In 2022, she received the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society. She was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• In 2024, she was awarded The Davy Medal by the Royal Society. This was for her important contributions to fluorine chemistry, especially how it helps medicine and PET imaging.

See also

In Spanish: Véronique Gouverneur para niños