International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), has recently announced the recipients of the IUPAC 2019 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Awards. Twelve female scientists worldwide received this recognition, including Professor Kim Baldridge, who teaches at the School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology from Tianjin University, China. Professor Kim is the only recipient who is currently working in Asia. She was honored for developing and applying quantum chemistry algorithms in molecular science, pioneering inspirational women-in-science symposia and science-themed fairytales, and for championing chemical safety in China. The award ceremony will take place in July 2019 in Paris, France.

　　Professor Kim Baldridge, who has American and Swiss citizenship and specializes in computer chemistry, now holds the post of the vice dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology and the director of the High Performance Computing Center in Tianjin University. As one of the first non-ethnic Chinese leaders to head a school in China, she has made a great effort to instigate massive reforms in English instruction, renovated infrastructure, international recruitment, and a global safety standard culture. Her work contributes to a program viewed as one of the most influential foreign elements in the 40 years since China’s opening-up.

　　Professor Baldridge has published 220 papers, which have been cited a total of nearly 23,000 times, with an h-index of 45. Due to her academic excellence, Professor Baldridge is in charge of a subsidiary project of the National Key Basic Research Program of China. She is also a member of the American Association of the Advancement of Science Fellows, of the American Physical Society Fellows, and of the editorial staff of the Chemical Theories and Calculation. She was awarded the Fulbright Award in 1997, the Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award in March 2000 and the Chinese Government Friendship Award in 2018.

　　The purpose of the awards program, initiated by IUPAC as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry celebrations, is to acknowledge and promote the work of women in chemistry/chemical engineering worldwide. The Awards Committee decides the list of recipients every two years. The awardees will be selected based on excellence in basic or applied research, distinguished accomplishments in teaching or education, or demonstrated leadership or managerial excellence in chemical sciences.