CME STEM Leadership Awards

Funder: Chemical Marketing & Economics, Inc. (CME), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

Geographic Scope: International; recognizes leaders from diverse sectors

Award Purpose:
Recognize exceptional visionaries across diverse sectors who harness the transformative power of STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—to drive sustainable innovation in energy, materials, life sciences, and beyond, ultimately benefiting humanity.

Motto: "Celebrate today's leaders and enable those of tomorrow"

Award Categories

Awards are granted in various categories including:

• Lifetime Achievement
• Extraordinary Innovation
• Corporate Reinvention
• Historic Industrial Investment
• Science Involvement
• Outstanding STEM Philanthropy
• Global Growth
• Historic Corporate Reinvention

Scope and Focus Areas

Honorees Come From:

• Industry (Fortune 500 CEOs and leaders)
• Finance (venture capital, private equity founders)
• Government (Cabinet secretaries, NASA administrators, National Laboratory directors)
• Academia (university presidents, researchers)
• Philanthropy (major foundation leaders)
• Research institutions

STEM Fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics in:

• Energy
• Materials science
• Life sciences
• Aerospace
• Chemical industry
• Sustainable innovation

Characteristics

What Sets CME Apart:

• Deliberate mission to unite visionaries from industry, finance, government, academia, philanthropy, and fundamental research
• Cross-sector collaboration approach
• Brings together 7 Nobel Laureates including:
  • Barry Sharpless (double Nobelist)
  • Frances Arnold
  • Carolyn Bertozzi
  • Others
• Iconic global CEOs from Pfizer, Dow, Merck, BASF, Air Products, Honeywell, Solvay, Arkema, Regeneron
• Finance luminaries: Henry Kravis (KKR), Len Blavatnik (Access Industries), Daniel D'Aniello (The Carlyle Group)
• Government leaders: Wilbur Ross (former US Secretary of Commerce), Charles Bolden (NASA Administrator), Kim Budil (Lawrence Livermore Lab), Martin Keller (NREL), Paul Kearns (Argonne Lab)
• Educational leaders: Paul Alivisatos (UChicago President), David Skorton (Smithsonian Secretary)
• Philanthropists: Jon M. Huntsman, James and Marilyn Simons

Event Details

Format: Annual ceremony held in December in New York City at the Metropolitan Club

• Time: 11:00 am - 2:30 pm ET
• Schedule includes:
  • 11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Reception
  • 12:00 - 1:00 pm: Luncheon
  • 1:00 - 2:30 pm: Award presentation

Background

• Founded: March 11, 1954, as an industry topical group of the American Chemical Society's New York Section
• Award Established: 2012
• Organization Status: Now an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit with long-standing bonds to ACS Technical Divisions & Chapters and NASA's Office of the Chief Scientist

Application/Selection Process

Selection Method:

• Honorees are selected by CME leadership and board
• Recipients are identified and invited; this is not an open application program

Event Registration:

• To attend the award ceremony, send registration information request to: contact@cme-stem.org
• Event fees apply (amount not specified on website)

Note: The CME STEM Leadership Awards are primarily an honors/recognition program where honorees are selected and invited by the organization, rather than an application-based grant program. The awards recognize exceptional leaders who have already achieved distinction in their fields.