Douglas Stephan (photo by Polina Teif)
Doug Stephan honoured with 2026 Davy Medal by U.K.'s Royal Society
Published: August 27, 2026
Doug Stephan, a University Professor in the department of chemistry in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science, has been awarded the 2026 Davy Medal by the Royal Society, the U.K.'s national academy of sciences.
The medal is awarded annually to an outstanding researcher in the field of chemistry.
Stephan was recognized for his discovery of the concept of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), a ground-breaking alternative for current practices of catalysis (the process of speeding up a chemical reaction by adding a catalyst that is not consumed by the reaction).
Through FLPs, Stephan discovered the creation of organic compounds can take place without using expensive or toxic transition-metal catalysts and can instead be performed using more common elements such as phosphorous, boron or nitrogen.
Although FLPs are not yet used commercially, Stephan says he is heartened by how companies are exploring FLPs to make their chemical processes less expensive and better for the environment. “Now that the concept is out there in the chemical community, people are taking it and going in completely different directions that we didn't even think about,” he says. “There's been some spectacular work stemming from our initial discovery, and that's extremely gratifying.”
On receiving the Davy Medal, Stephan says he "was surprised" and feels "incredibly lucky to be recognized in this way and to join such distinguished past recipients.”
