Palestinian refugee to Nobel glory: Omar Yaghi's journey

HE WAS HONOURED WITH THE 'GREAT ARAB MINDS' AWARD IN UAE LAST YEAR

- BY STEPHEN N. R.

"Proud of Jordanian scientist Professor Omar Yaghi, for winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His achievement is Jordan's pride, and adds to Jordanians' record of excellence in all fields, at home and abroad, proving they can make a difference wherever they are," King Abdullah wrote on X.

(AP)

Jordanian-American chemist Omar Yaghi of the University of California (UC), Berkeley, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sharing it with Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Japan.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the trio was recognised for “creating molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow.”

Their groundbreaking discovery of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has given rise to a new class of porous materials capable of storing, filtering, and transforming molecules.

Born in 1965 to Palestinian refugee parents in Amman, Jordan, Omar Yaghi has journeyed from modest beginnings above his father’s butcher shop to the heights of global science.