Ei-ichi Negishi

Banquet speech

Ei-ichi Negishi’s speech at the Nobel Banquet in the Stockholm City Hall, 10 December 2010.

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen

I come humbly before you speaking for myself along with Co-Laureates – Dr. Richard Heck and Dr. Akira Suzuki.

We are deeply honored to be recognized with this wonderful distinction.

Receiving a Nobel Prize is the ultimate recognition for a lifetime spent questioning, exploring, experimenting; passing through the valleys of anguish to climb the mountains of success.

For me, receiving this honor is a 50-year dream come true.

I have known Dr. Heck and Dr. Suzuki for many years. I have enormous respect and praise for their work in our field.

I am particularly proud to say that both Dr. Suzuki and I did postdoctoral work at Purdue University with 1979 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Herbert C. Brown, who had a major influence on my life as well as my profession.

Our work in palladium-catalyzed cross‑couplings in organic synthesis has been ongoing for many years and it will continue. But the full impact of it is not yet realized. Others will use what we have learned, build on what we have discovered and use this to help people and technology in ways that we can only imagine today.

The final reward for any researcher is to see his or her lifetime of work extend beyond academia and laboratories, into the mainstream of our global society where it can breathe hope into the world.

Our pursuit in research must not be for rewards. Our pursuit in whatever we do must always be for excellence, and if we accomplish excellence, it is its own reward and recognition will follow.

This great honor inspires us to continue our quest for excellence.

Our gracious thanks to Your Majesties, the Nobel Foundation, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, our hosts who have so graciously escorted us through the excitement of these past several days, the people who have supported us and made this possible, and our families who share with us the joy of this moment.

Thank you.

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2010

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