ROGER PRINCE RECEIVES THE
NORTH JERSEY ACS SECTION
2007 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dr. Roger C. Prince of the Biomedical Sciences Division of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
Company is an internationally recognized leader and spokesperson for environmental science and pioneer
in the fields of bioenergetics, bioinorganic chemistry and oil spill research. He has applied his penetrating
insight to an incredible variety of scientific problems and is held in the highest esteem as a scientist. He
has pursued an aggressive research program that has resulted in over 300 papers that have had substantial
impact on the scientific community. His work is fueled by an intense interest in the physical, biological
and chemical processes that impact the fate of materials in the environment and has involved skillful
interaction at the interface of chemistry, physics, biology, geology and oceanography.
Dr. Prince’s research career has centered on biological redox chemistry and its central role in the energetics
of life. His doctoral work at the University of Bristol was aimed at understanding the energetics of bacterial
photosynthesis, and he has continued this work both while at the University of Pennsylvania and at
ExxonMobil. He has made important contributions in the energetics of electron transfer, particularly the
effects of kinetic limitations of protonation or conformational changes that make functional potentials very
different from those measured at equilibrium. With colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania he
discovered membrane attached electron carrier proteins that established a new paradigm of "hard-wired"
electron transfer. Previously it was generally accepted that electron transfer was carried out by freely
diffusible proteins such as cytochrome c. The efficiency and productivity of photosynthesis have important
social consequences. Among other things they will determine the potential roles that biofuels might play in
the nation’s transportation fuel mix, and Dr. Prince has been working in this area for many years.
Another area of Dr. Prince's research has been application of sophisticated analytical tools to the
investigation of the active sites of metalloproteins and clarification of the biochemistry and interactions
amongst selenium, arsenic and mercury in plants. The latter are renowned for their toxicity, but a toxic
dose of selenite can mitigate the effects of toxic doses of arsenite or inorganic mercury. Careful X-ray
absorption spectroscopy studies unraveled the chemistry of these effects and showed how some plants can
accumulate arsenic and selenium up to 1% of their dry weight. Understanding the biochemistry of these
elements in plants was a prelude to understanding their fate in the environment and for exploiting such
reactions for remediating contaminated areas and minimizing human health impacts. Of particular
significance is a potential application in Bangladesh where low levels of arsenic in drinking water cause
severe health problems in estimates of 35 to 80 million people.1 While the symptoms are very distinctive
(skin disorders, tumors and death), the mechanism of chronic low level arsenicosis is unknown. Other
populations consume water with higher levels of arsenic, but show no arsenicosis. Dr. Prince and
colleagues noted that the symptoms of selenium deficiency can be similar to those of arsenicosis and
hypothesized that arsenic might deplete essential selenium from affected Bangladeshis. It turns out the
Bangladeshi diet is borderline deficient in selenium, while plenty of selenium is present in diets where
arsenic levels are higher and no arsenicosis occurs. Two clinical trials are currently underway and giving
rise to hope for tens of millions.
Finally, Dr. Prince has been very actively involved in oil spill clean up and other remediation activities,
noting that the fate of oil in the environment is principally controlled by biological oxidation under both
aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Crude oils and their refined products are very complex mixtures of
hydrocarbons, and one of his most important contributions was using conserved internal markers within
hydrocarbon mixtures to follow the biodegradation of the more labile compounds. His work is heavily cited
and many other groups now regularly employ the internal marker approach he pioneered. He was Exxon’s
lead scientist in the Bioremediation Monitoring Program following the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, which
demonstrated, in a joint program with state and USEPA scientists, that bioremediation was a safe and
effective way to clean up the spilled oil, and has subsequently been involved with a major successful trial in
the Arctic. His understanding of the fate and behavior of spilled oil has resulted in major shifts in thinking
regarding the impacts and effects of oil spills . The Exxon Valdez bioremediation program was the largest
ever completed - over 60 miles of beaches in 1989-1990.
Underlying these at first glance disparate areas is Dr. Prince's deep interest in the fundamental oxidationreduction
chemistry that underlies biochemistry and bioenergetics, and a desire to share that interest with
students and colleagues. Dr. Prince has managed to maintain a broad interest in biological chemistry with a
focus on potential uses of this science in the energy industry, and effective collaborations with colleagues
in universities and government laboratories and agencies. Bioremediation (a word he coined!) has proven
to be a safe, reliable, environmentally -responsible, cost-effective technology for oil spills at sea and on
land. And biofuels may yet play a substantial and important role in providing transportation fuels.
Dr. Prince has presented many invited seminars and lectures and serves on important scientific review
panels and prestigious scientific planning committees. His unfailing level of high achievement has been
recognized by invitations to join the advisory boards of the ACS journal Environmental Science and
Technology, the Editorial Boards of Bioremediation and Biochemica et Biophysica Acta, and the Industrial
Advisory Board of the Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium at the University of Tulsa.
Dr. Prince has a keen interest in the training and education of young scientists. He has passed on to many
his enthusiasm for the written word, hands-on experimentation and meticulous attention to detail. His
extremely encouraging and warm attitude, endless curiosity, encyclopedic knowledge and exquisite
expertise in spectroscopy has impacted scientists of all ages. He makes work a joy. At home he is a
devoted family man, an avid gardener and bee keeper, but in addition, ever the scientist. To walk around
his garden with him is to invite an education.
The mission of the ACS is "to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner the advancement of the
chemical enterprise and its practitioners". Dr. Prince's career exemplifies the role the ACS plays in
educating people about the importance of chemistry in developing new solutions, protecting the
environment and contributing to the economy. He truly embodies the spirit of the society's mission.
The award will be presented to Dr. Prince at the NJ ACS annual award dinner on May 21 at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Email
for details.
| Dr. Ronald Atlas, | Mr. Richard Bare, | Dr. Thomas Beatty, | Dr. Joan Braddock, | Dr. Bob Buchanan, |
| Dr. Fevzi Daldal, | Dr. Evelyn Drake, | Dr. Jurgen Gailer, | Dr. Graham George, | Dr. Jon Lindstrom, |
| Dr. Edward Owens, | Dr. Ingrid Pickering, | Dr. Thomas Spiro, | Dr. Joseph Suflita, | Mr. John Wilkinson |
1 Science v.315 p.1659 (2007)
