# Eric Jacobsen Wins 2026 Cotton Medal April 20, 2026 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) Professor Eric Jacobsen, Sheldon Emery Professor of Chemistry, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the [F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research](https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/about/medals-lectureships/cotton-medal/index.html) named for one of the most honored faculty members in Texas A&M University history. The medal is jointly awarded each year by the [Texas A&M Department of Chemistry](https://www.chem.tamu.edu/) and the [Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS)](https://www.chem.tamu.edu/acs/) in tribute to Dr. Albert Cotton, a Texas A&M distinguished professor of chemistry widely considered one of the world’s foremost inorganic chemists who passed away on February 20, 2007. He was the inaugural recipient of the medal when it was first awarded in 1995. Cotton came to Texas A&M as the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University in 1972 from MIT, where at age 31 in 1961, he had become the youngest MIT faculty member to attain the rank of full professor. His pioneering 35-year career at Texas A&M revolutionized several fields of chemistry, including inorganic chemistry, protein chemistry, structural chemistry and chemical bonding. Cotton was the originator of and leading authority in the field of compounds containing single and multiple bonds between metal atoms. His other principal contributions dealt with protein structure, spectroscopic studies of metal carbonyls, and the dynamic behavior of fluxional organometallic and metal carbonyl compounds. Read more via [TAMU](https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/_files/_images/_medals-lectures/26-cotton-symposium-program.pdf). See also:- [ Jacobsen ](/news-and-events-faculty/jacobsen) - [ Faculty ](/news-event-type/faculty) - [ Prizes & Awards ](/news-type/prizes-awards) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)