Yaghi, Omar M.

Omar Mwannes Yaghi (Arabic: عمر مُؤنس ياغي; born February 9, 1965) is a chemist best known for developing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and pioneering reticular chemistry. He was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa, for this work. From 2012 to 2026, Yaghi was a University Professor and James and Neeltje Tretter Endowed Chair in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. In July 2026, he left the university to lead a newly-established artificial intelligence and material science research institute at Tsinghua University. Analysts and media outlets characterized the move as a significant indicator of shifting geopolitical dynamics in scientific research, driven by factors such as changing federal funding structures in the United States and expanded institutional recruitment initiatives by China. Yaghi is also an affiliate scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, founding director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. In January 2025, he became the seventh president of the World Cultural Council, an international organization promoting cultural and scientific advancement.