A pioneer in bio-organic chemistry will talk about “Powering the Planet with Solar Energy” at the University of Houston Tuesday, March 25.

Harry Gray, Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, will speak at 6 p.m. in the Science and Engineering Classroom Building auditorium (SEC 100).

A 5 p.m. reception will precede Gray’s seminar. The UH Chemistry Graduate Student Council and the Department of Chemistry are hosting both events.

Gray’s research focuses on electron transfer, the process of moving an electron from one place to another, which is critical for life. The research has applications to such diverse areas as energy storage and the intricacies of protein folding. In his talk at UH, Gray will discuss the potential for controlled electron flow to revolutionize the use of solar energy.

A Caltech professor since 1966, Gray has received numerous distinguished honors and awards. These include the National Medal of Science in 1986; six national awards from the American Chemical Society, including the Priestley Medal, the ACS’s highest honor; and the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences. In 2004, he received both the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry.