Deiaa Harraz wins 2025 Davison Prize
Established in 1998, the Davison Prize is given annually to recognize the best PhD thesis in Inorganic Chemistry.
Deiaa Harraz, a PhD student in Donner Professor of Science Yogesh Surendranath’s Lab, has been chosen as the 2025 recipient of the MIT Department of Chemistry’s Davison Prize. Established in 1998 by then Department Head Stephen J. Lippard, the Davison Prize is given in honor of the best PhD thesis in Inorganic Chemistry, and the winner is selected by members of the faculty. The award is named for Professor Alan Davison, FRS, whose pioneering research in basic chemistry led to medical breakthroughs that have saved countless lives.
Harraz completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he earned Bachelor’s Degrees in both Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. His graduate research focuses on understanding electrochemical phenomena in heterogeneous catalysis. He has developed techniques for measuring and interpreting the electrochemical potential of catalysts under conditions of vapor phase catalysis. Harraz’s research has recently elucidated the role of corrosion in Pd catalyzed vinyl acetate synthesis, finding that heterogeneous Pd metal and homogeneous Pd(II) each carry out complementary steps to furnish the catalytic cycle.
