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'{{eastern name order|Oláh György}} {{Infobox_Scientist |name = George Andrew Olah |image =Oláh György előadása 8299.jpg |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1927|5|22}} |birth_place = [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]] |residence = |nationality = [[Hungary|Hungarian]] |death_date = |death_place = |field = [[chemistry]] |work_institution = [[Case Western Reserve University]] [[University of Southern California]] |alma_mater = [[Budapest University of Technology and Economics]] |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = [[carbocation]]s via [[superacids]] |prizes = [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] 1994 |religion = [[Agnostic]]<ref>"Today, I consider myself, in Thomas Huxley’s terms, an agnostic. I don’t know whether there is a God or creator, or whatever we may call a higher intelligence or being. I don’t know whether there is an ultimate reason for our being or whether there is anything beyond material phenomena. I may doubt these things as a scientist, as we cannot prove them scientifically, but at the same time we also cannot falsify (disprove) them. For the same reasons, I cannot deny God with certainty, which would make me an atheist. This is a conclusion reached by many scientists." ''George Olah, A Life of Magic Chemistry''</ref> |footnotes = }} '''George Andrew Olah''' (born May 22, 1927 in [[Budapest]], as '''Oláh György''') is a [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-born [[United States|American]] [[chemist]]. His research involves the generation and reactivity of [[carbocation]]s via [[superacids]]. For this research, Olah was awarded a [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1994/index.html|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1994|publisher=The Nobel Foundation|accessdate=2008-12-22}}</ref> He has also been awarded the [[Priestley Medal]], the highest honor granted by the [[American Chemical Society]]. ==Life== Olah was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 22, 1927. After the high school of Budapesti Piarista Gimnazium ([[Piarists|Scolopi fathers]]), he studied, then taught, at what is now [[Budapest University of Technology and Economics]]. As a result of the [[1956 Hungarian Revolution]], he and his family moved briefly to [[England]] and then to [[Canada]] where he joined [[Dow Chemical]] in [[Sarnia, Ontario|Sarnia]], Ontario, with another Hungarian chemist, Stephen J. Kuhn. Olah's pioneering work on carbocations started during his eight years with Dow.<ref>{{cite journal | author = George A. Olah | title = Friedel-Crafts and Related Reactions | journal = John Wiley and Sons | year = 1965}}</ref> In 1965 he returned to academia at [[Case Western Reserve University]] and then to [[University of Southern California]] in 1977. In 1971, Olah became a [[naturalized citizen]] of the [[United States]]. Olah is currently a distinguished professor at the [[University of Southern California]] and the director of the [[Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute]]. In 2005, Olah wrote an essay promoting the [[methanol economy]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = George A. Olah | title = Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy | journal = [[Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.]] | volume = 44 | issue = 18 | pages = 2636–2639 | year = 2005 | doi = 10.1002/anie.200462121 | pmid = 15800867}}</ref> The Olah family formed an [[Financial endowment|endowment fund]] (the George A. Olah Endowment) which grants annual awards to outstanding chemists. The awards are selected and administered by the [[American Chemical Society]].<ref>[[Chemical & Engineering News]], 19 January 2009, "George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry", p. 74</ref> ==Work== The search for stable [[carbocation]]s led to the discovery of protonated [[methane]] which was stabilized by [[superacids]], like FSO₃H-SbF₅ ("[[Magic acid|Magic Acid]]"). :CH₄ + H⁺ &rarr; CH₅⁺ Olah was also involved in a career-long battle with [[Herbert C. Brown]] of [[Purdue]] over the existence of so-called "[[Non-classical ion|nonclassical]]" carbocations – such as the [[norbornane|norbornyl]] cation, which can be depicted as cationic character delocalized over several bonds. In recent years, his research has shifted from [[hydrocarbon]]s and their transformation into fuel to the [[methanol economy]]. He has joined with [[Robert Zubrin]], [[Anne Korin]], and [[James Woolsey]] in promoting a flexible-fuel mandate initiative. In July 2011, Ball became a member of the [http://www.usesc.org/energy_security/index.php United States Energy Security Council], which seeks to diminish oil's monopoly over the US transportation sector and is sponsored by the [http://www.iags.org/ Institute for the Analysis of Global Security] (IAGS). ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==Technical Publications== *Olah, G. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0356&numPages=8&fp=N "Superacid Catalyzed Depolymerization and Conversion of Coals. Final Technical Report. [HF:BF{sub 2}/H{sub 2}]"], [[University of Southern California]], [[United States Department of Energy]], (1980). *Olah, G. A. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0357&numPages=5&fp=N "Superacid Catalyzed Coal Conversion Chemistry. 1st and 2nd Quarterly Technical Progress Reports, September 1, 1983-March 30, 1984."], [[University of Southern California]], [[United States Department of Energy]], (1984). *Olah, G. A. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0358&numPages=6&fp=N "Superacid Catalyzed Coal Conversion Chemistry. Final Technical Report, September 1, 1983-September 1, 1986."], [[University of Southern California]], [[United States Department of Energy]], (1986). ==External links== *[http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/olah.html Biography and Bibliographic Resources], from the [[Office of Scientific and Technical Information]], [[United States Department of Energy]] *[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5369301 Methanol as an alternative fuel] Recording of a discussion with George Olah broadcast on [[National Public Radio|NPR]]. *[http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1994/olah-lecture.html My Search for Carbocations and Their Role in Chemistry] Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1994 by George A. Olah *[http://www.iags.org/index.html The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security ] {{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1976-2000}} {{Hungarian Nobel Laureates}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Olah, George Andrew | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1927-05-22 | PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]] | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Olah, George Andrew}} [[Category:1927 births]] [[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Budapest]] [[Category:Hungarian chemists]] [[Category:Hungarian scientists]] [[Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]] [[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]] [[Category:Hungarian Nobel laureates]] [[Category:American Nobel laureates]] [[Category:Foreign Members of the Royal Society]] [[Category:Priestley Medal]] [[Category:Hungarian agnostics]] [[Category:University of Southern California faculty]] [[ar:جورج أولاه]] [[ca:George Andrew Olah]] [[cs:George A. Olah]] [[da:György A. Oláh]] [[de:George A. Olah]] [[es:George A. Olah]] [[eu:George A. Olah]] [[fr:George A. Olah]] [[gd:George A. Olah]] [[gl:George Andrew Olah]] [[id:George A. Olah]] [[it:George Andrew Olah]] [[sw:George Olah]] [[hu:Oláh György (kémikus)]] [[nl:George Andrew Olah]] [[ja:ジョージ・オラー]] [[no:György A. Oláh]] [[oc:George Andrew Olah]] [[pnb:جارج اینڈریو اولاہ]] [[pl:George A. Olah]] [[pt:George Andrew Olah]] [[ro:George Andrew Olah]] [[ru:Ола, Джордж]] [[sq:George A. Olah]] [[sk:György Oláh]] [[fi:George A. Olah]] [[sv:George A. Olah]] [[uk:Джордж Ола]] [[vi:George Andrew Olah]] [[yo:George Andrew Olah]] [[zh:乔治·安德鲁·欧拉]]'