Profile

Education

1978.09-1983.03, University of Paris-Sud (Paris XI), Organic Chemistry, Ph.D. (Supervisor: Prof. Derek Barton, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry)

1974.06-1978.06, Imperial College London, Organic Chemistry, B.Sc.

Professional Experience

2026.07-present  Institute for Advanced and Applied Chemical Synthesis, Jinan University  Professor

2022.05-present ÉcolePolytechnique(Paris)  ProfessorEmeritus

1983.3-present FrenchNationalCentreforScientificResearch(CNRS) ResearchFellow→ResearchDirector

2000.05-2022.04 ÉcolePolytechnique(Paris) ProfessorandDirectoroftheChemistryDepartment 

Research Interests

New reactions and reagents; Pharmaceutical engineering

Major Honors and Awards

* 1995: Clavel-Lespiau Prize, French Academy of Sciences

* 2003: Palmes Académiques (Academic Palms), French Republic

* 2007: CNRS Silver Medal (awarded annually to 15 researchers)

* 2007: Chevalier of the Legion of Honour

* 2008: Grignard-Wittig Prize, German Chemical Society (GDCh)

* 2012: Joseph-Achille Le Bel Prize, French Chemical Society

* 2015: Corresponding Foreign Member, Academy of Sciences of Lisbon (Portugal)

* 2025: Selected as a Distinguished Expert under the National Overseas Talent Introduction Program and the Guangdong Provincial Major Talent Program

Academic Achievements

Professor Samir Z. Zard has long been dedicated to the discovery of novel reaction processes and the elucidation of reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry. In 1985, he and his supervisor co-named the Barton-Zard reaction. He is an internationally leading scientist in the field of radical chemistry, having pioneered xanthate-based radical chemistry, with some of his results finding widespread applications in pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and other industries.

As of September 2026, Professor Zard has published over 400 papers as corresponding author in major international chemistry journals (including 150 papers in CAS Zone 1 journals) such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., and Org. Lett. He holds 38 international patents, has delivered a total of 704 lectures and presentations at international conferences and symposia. His work has been cited 11,902 times, with an H-index of 56.

Industrial Achievements

Professor Zard maintains extensive collaborations with global top pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis and Wyeth, and has long served as a technical consultant to industry. Some of his research outcomes have been commercialized, generating significant economic and social value. A notable example is his development of xanthate-mediated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT/MADIX) radical polymerization technology, which has been widely adopted in industrial production. For instance, Rhodia Group (Belgium) and Lubrizol Chemical Company (USA) use this process to produce block copolymers on a tens-of-tons scale (marketed as Rhodibloc(R) and Asteric(R), respectively).

Academic Affiliations and Editorial Roles

Since 2010, Professor Zard has served as a member of the Editorial Board of the ACS journal Organic Letters (a CAS Zone 1 journal). He is also on the editorial boards of five other organic chemistry journals: Tetrahedron, Tetrahedron Letters, Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, Sulfur Letters, and Sulfur Reports.

In 2004, he was elected a Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC, 2011). He has held named lectureships including the Woodward Visiting Professor at Harvard University (2010), the Birch Lecturer at the Australian National University (2015), and the Liversidge Lecturer at the University of Sydney (2015).