Palestinian-Born Scientist Omar Yaghi Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Darwin, 09 October-

Omar M. Yaghi, a scientist born to Palestinian refugee parents, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). He shares the honor with Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Japan, and Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Although now a U.S. citizen and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Yaghi’s journey began under humble circumstances. His parents, displaced from Palestine, settled in Amman, Jordan, where Yaghi was born in 1965.

At the age of 15, inspired by his father, he moved to the United States to pursue education. Despite his limited English proficiency at the time, he enrolled in college, later completing both his undergraduate and postgraduate studies there. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University.

Driven by his passion for addressing global challenges through science, Yaghi has focused much of his research on sustainability — particularly on water collection and storage, a subject close to his heart. Growing up in Jordan, his family shared a small room and faced severe water shortages, often receiving water only once every two weeks for a few hours.

In recognition of his scientific excellence, Saudi Arabia granted him honorary citizenship in 2021 as part of its Vision 2030 initiative, which honors distinguished scholars and innovators worldwide.

Yaghi’s pioneering work on metal–organic frameworks — materials with vast potential for gas storage, water harvesting, and clean energy applications — has earned him global acclaim.

Source: Al Arabiya