Farid Chemat, a giant of
chemistry and life
6-Mar-2023
- On January 24th,
Professor
Farid Chemat passed away in Avignon, France. "
Farid
was a great a scientist and a true gentleman" commented
Mario
Pagliaro learning the news, "
we are truly sorrowed by the news of
Farid's passing. Our deepest condolances go to his family, co-workers,
students and friends".
After being a maître de conférences
at l'Université de La Réunion since 1999, in 2006 he joined as Professor
of Chemistry the Université d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, France,
where three years later he created the Groupe de Recherche en
Eco-Extraction de produits Naturels (GREEN).
The Lab quickly became the world's leading
laboratory in the field, and on April 2022 became host to the
UNESCO
Chair in Plant-Based Green and Sustainable Chemistry. Inaugurated on
January 25, 2023, the Chair includes university partners from 12 different
countries and will shortly welcome young researchers and doctoral
students, especially from the
Global South. Each year,
furthermore, the Chair will organize a conference in a partner country to
discuss the scientific challenges of eco-extraction, its societal impact
and to carry out training activities.
Since several years in the ranking of world's most cited scientists,
Professor Chemat has given
seminal
contributions to develop new and
truly sustainable
extraction techniques based on widely different techniques. Many are
already employed by food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic
companies. Too numerous to be summarized here, his contributions and his
legacy will soon be amid the topics of a journal's themed issue
dedicated
to his memory.
Since early 2021, he was
Editor-in-Chief
of
Molecules, one of the oldest and most reputed openly accessible
chemistry journals.
"Our teams" adds Dr Pagliaro
"started to collaborate in the late 2010s. The exchange of young
researchers and the need to improve even the advanced education of
doctoral students were amid Professor Chemat's pioneering ideas: we will
not forget his life and scientific lessons".
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