George A. Olah
Scientists

George A. Olah Net Worth

George A. Olah was a renowned Hungarian American chemist who won the 1994 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research on carbocations. He was also awarded the Priestley Medal and F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the American Chemical Society. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1927, he experienced the horrors of World War I and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. After working in the chemical industry, he moved to academia and joined the faculty of the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, where he became director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. It was only during the 1990s that he achieved international acclaim for his work.
George A. Olah is a member of Scientists

Age, Biography and Wiki

Who is it? Chemist
Birth Day May 22, 1927
Birth Place Budapest, Hungary, American
Age 93 YEARS OLD
Died On March 8, 2017(2017-03-08) (aged 89)\nBeverly Hills, California, U.S.
Birth Sign Gemini
Citizenship Hungarian and American
Alma mater Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Known for Carbocations via superacids
Spouse(s) Judith Lengyel (m. 1949)
Children 2
Awards Tolman Award (1991) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1994) ForMemRS (1997) Arthur C. Cope Award (2001) Order of the Rising Sun (2003) Priestley Medal (2005) Hungarian Order of Pro Merit (2006)
Fields Chemistry
Institutions Case Western Reserve University University of Southern California

💰 Net worth

George A. Olah, renowned for his immense contributions to chemistry, is estimated to have a net worth ranging from $100,000 to $1 million by 2024. With a remarkable career in American chemistry, Olah has left an indelible mark in the field. The Hungarian-born chemist received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994 for his groundbreaking research on the essentials of carbocations and the development of hydrocarbon chemistry. Known for his innovative thinking and numerous patents, Olah's valuable contributions have undoubtedly solidified his prominence in the scientific community.

Biography/Timeline

1927

Olah was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 22, 1927, to Magda (Krasznai) and Gyula Oláh, a Lawyer. After the high school of Budapesti Piarista Gimnazium (Scolopi fathers), he studied under organic Chemist Géza Zemplén at the Technical University of Budapest, now the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, where he earned M.S. and Ph.D degrees in Chemical Engineering. From 1949 through 1954, he taught at the school as a professor of organic chemistry. In the subsequent two years, from 1954–1956, he worked at the Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, where he was Associate Scientific Director and Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry.

1956

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, with another Hungarian Chemist, Stephen J. Kuhn. Olah's pioneering work on carbocations started during his eight years with Dow. In 1965, he returned to academia at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, chairing the Department of Chemistry from 1965 to 1969, and from 1967 through 1977 he was the C. F. Maybery Distinguished Professor of Research in Chemistry. In 1971, Olah became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He then moved to the University of Southern California in 1977.

1980

At USC, Olah was a distinguished professor and the Director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. Starting in 1980, he served as the Distinguished Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of Chemistry and later became a distinguished professor in USC's School of Engineering. In 1994, Olah was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contribution to carbocation chemistry". In particular, Olah's search for stable nonclassical carbocations led to the discovery of protonated methane stabilized by superacids, like FSO3H-SbF5 ("Magic Acid").

1997

In 1997, the Olah family formed an endowment fund (the George A. Olah Endowment) which grants annual awards to outstanding chemists, including the George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry, formerly known as the ACS Award in Petroleum Chemistry. The awards are selected and administered by the American Chemical Society.

2005

Later in his career, his research shifted from hydrocarbons and their transformation into fuel to the methanol economy, namely generating methanol from methane. He joined with Robert Zubrin, Anne Korin, and James Woolsey in promoting a flexible-fuel mandate initiative. In 2005, Olah wrote an essay promoting the methanol economy in which he suggested that methanol could be produced from hydrogen gas (H2) and industrially derived or atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), using Energy from renewable sources to power the production process.

2013

Olah, with Canadian Chemist Saul Winstein, was also involved in a career-long battle with Herbert C. Brown of Purdue over the existence of so-called "nonclassical" carbocations – such as the norbornyl cation, which can be depicted as cationic character delocalized over several bonds. Olah's studies of the cation with NMR spectroscopy provided more evidence suggesting that Winstein's model of the non-classical cation, "featuring a pair of [delocalized] electrons smeared between three carbon atoms," was correct.

2017

He married Judith Agnes Lengyel in 1949, and they had two children, George, born in Hungary in 1954, and Ronald, born in the U.S. in 1959. Olah died on March 8, 2017, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. After his death, the Hungarian government said that the "country has lost a great patriot and one of the most outstanding figures of Hungarian scientific life."

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About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.