CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Taeghwan Hyeon, a pioneering chemist and researcher in the field of nanoscience and the recipient of the 2025 Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement, will deliver the 2025 Sheth Distinguished Alumni Lecture later this month at the Illini Union.
Hyeon — one of five 2025 International Achievement Award recipients — will present a lecture in celebration of his recognition from noon to 1 p.m. on April 24 in Room 104 on the union’s first floor. The lecture is free and open to the public with provided hors d'oeuvres and beverages.
Hyeon is a 1996 Ph.D. graduate of Inorganic Chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and currently serves as the director of the Center for Nanoparticle Research in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) at Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea. He will share reflections and lessons from his Illinois experience, latest research endeavors, and his life in South Korea during the lecture hosted by Illinois International.
A brief Q&A will be held immediately following the presentation.
Registration is highly encouraged.
For nearly 25 years, the Sheth Distinguished Alumni Lecture has honored highly distinguished international alumni who have made outstanding contributions to government, humanity, science, art, or human welfare, and exemplify the strength of their education at Illinois.
About Taeghwan Hyeon
Hyeon is a pioneer in the field of nanoscience and has worked tirelessly throughout his impressive career to develop groundbreaking discoveries all the while being eyed as a potential Nobel Prize winner.
Currently, he serves as the director of the Center for Nanoparticle Research in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) at Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea. He is also a distinguished professor in the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at SNU, which is the university’s highest professional position.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2024.
Hyeon was born in Dalseong County, Daegu, South Korea. He received his B.A. and M.S. degrees from SNU in 1987 and 1989, respectively.
In 1996 he received his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Illinois under the supervision of Kenneth S. Suslick, the Martin T. Schmidt Research Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Illinois.
While at Illinois, he studied sonochemical synthesis of nanostructured catalytic and magnetic materials.
Overall, Hyeon has focused his research on the synthesis and applications of uniform-sized nanoparticles and related nanostructured materials.
He is perhaps most famous for his generalized, but simple, synthetic method of making nanometer-sized particles that are extremely monodispersed in size through the so-called ‘heat-up process.’
As a result of his research conducted alongside his research group, Hyeon received numerous national and international awards and recognitions during his career such as the Korea Science & Technology Award from the South Korean President in 2016. He has also been recognized by the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Materials Research Society.
He was also the first associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s most prestigious chemistry journal, a position he held from 2010 to 2020.
About the Award
Established in 2000 with a generous gift from longtime Illinois benefactors, Dr. Jagdish and Mrs. Madhuri Sheth, the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement Award recognizes international alumni who are highly distinguished in their profession, have made outstanding contributions to government, humanity, science, art, or human welfare, and exemplify the strength of their education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Through this award, and others, the university recognizes its distinguished international alumni, faculty, and students for their exceptional achievements. To learn more about these funds or to help support this mission by contributing your tax-deductible donation, please visit the Illinois International giving page.