James Tour
James Tour | |
|---|---|
 Tour in 2018 | |
| Born | James Mitchell Tour New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University (BS) Purdue University (PhD) |
| Known for | Molecular electronics Nanotechnology Graphene production techniques Carbon nanotube chemistry Nanocar NanoPutian |
| Awards | Oesper Award (2021) Centenary Prize (2020) Trotter Prize (2014) Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (2008) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Organic Chemistry Materials Science Nanotechnology |
| Institutions | Rice University, 1999-present University of South Carolina, 1988–1999 |
| Thesis | Metal-Promoted Cyclization and Transition-Metal-Promoted Carbonylative Cyclization Reactions (1986) |
| Ei-ichi Negishi | |
| Website | www |
James Mitchell Tour is an American chemist, nanotechnologist and intelligent design proponent. He is the T. T. and W. F. Chao Professor of Chemistry at Rice University, where he is also a joint professor of materials science and nanotechnology.[1]
Education
[edit]Tour graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1981. He then earned his Ph.D. in synthetic chemistry and organometallic chemistry from Purdue University in 1986 under Nobel laureate Ei-ichi Negishi. After receiving his doctorate, he completed postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1986–1987) and Stanford University (1987–1988).[2]
Career
[edit]Tour and colleagues worked on materials science, specifically on the use of graphene as a scaffolding gel, as reported by The New Yorker.[3]
Tour has also been involved in scientific outreach, such as NanoKids, an interactive learning DVD to teach children fundamentals of chemistry and physics.[4] He has testified before the US Congress on two occasions to warn about budget cuts.[3]
In the Scientific American article "Better Killing Through Chemistry", which appeared a few months after the September 11 attacks, Tour highlighted the ease of obtaining chemical weapon precursors in the United States.[5]
Religion and evolution
[edit]Tour became a born-again Christian as an undergraduate, and in 2001 he signed the Discovery Institute's A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism statement that relies on pseudoscientific reasoning to offer various religiously motivated arguments against evolution. In a 2014 profile in The New Yorker, Tour was reported to have indicated that this signing "reflected only his personal doubts about how random mutation occurs at the molecular level. Although he ends e-mails with 'God bless', he says that, apart from a habit of praying for divine guidance, he feels that religion plays no part in his scientific work."[3] Tour has worked with Stephen C. Meyer to promote intelligent design.[6][7] Tour has subsequently become more outspoken about his scepticism regarding origin of life research, including in a debate with science YouTuber Dave Farina at a May 2023 event at Rice University.[8]
In a December 2025 interview with Tucker Carlson, Tour rejected evolution.[9] The claims and arguments made by Tour were debunked in a 2026 article by biologist Peter Uetz in the journal Free Inquiry.[10]
Honors and awards
[edit]- ACS Nano Lectureship Award by the American Chemical Society (2012)[11]
- Centenary Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry (2020), "Awarded for innovations in materials chemistry, with applications in medicine and nanotechnology."[12]
- Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2024), "For synthesis, fabrication, properties, applications, and commercialization of novel forms of carbon and their composites and derivatives."[13]
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ↑ "James Tour | Faculty | The People of Rice | Rice University".
- ↑ "James M Tour Group".
- 1 2 3 Colapinto, John (December 14, 2014). "Material Question". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ↑ Rovner, Sophie L.; C; Washington, En (January 21, 2025). "'Nanokids' Try to Get into Middle School". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
- ↑ Musser, George (November 2001). "Better Killing through Chemistry: Buying chemical weapons material through the mail is quick and easy". Scientific American. 285 (6): 20–21. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1201-20. PMID 11759580. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
- ↑ "Extravagant Claims: James Tour & Stephen Meyer Critique Origin of Life Research". Discovery Institute.
- ↑ "Beyond Evolution: Unraveling the Origins of Life with Stephen Meyer and James Tour". Hoover Institute. August 5, 2024.
- ↑ "Rice's James Tour and YouTuber 'Professor Dave' debate the origins of life". Rice's James Tour and YouTuber 'Professor Dave' debate the origins of life - The Rice Thresher. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ↑ Tucker Carlson (December 15, 2025). World-Leading Scientist on the Evolution Myth, Super Humans, Genetic Engineering & Origin of Life. Retrieved July 23, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Uetz, Peter (July 23, 2026). "How a Respected Scientist Became a Creationist Superstar—and How To Debunk a Creationist 'Superstar'" (PDF). Free Inquiry. 2026 (August/September): 41–45.
- ↑ Buriak, Jillian M.; Maier, Stefan A.; Parak, Wolfgang J.; Wee, Andrew T. S.; Weiss, Paul S. (2012). "Announcing the Recipients of the 2012 ACS Nano Lectureship Awards". ACS Nano. 6 (2): 987–989. doi:10.1021/nn300584t.
- ↑ https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/find-a-prize/centenary-prizes/previous-winners/
- ↑ "Dr. James Mitchell Tour". National Academy of Egineering.
External links
[edit]
- American organic chemists
- Carbon scientists
- 21st-century American chemists
- American nanotechnologists
- Syracuse University alumni
- Living people
- Purdue University alumni
- University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
- Stanford University alumni
- Rice University faculty
- 20th-century American chemists
- Scientists from New York City
- American Christians
- Messianic Jews
- Intelligent design advocates