Nobel Prize from former Case Western professor up for auction

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to a former Case Western Reserve University professor is up for auction.

George A. Olah won the prize in 1994 for his groundbreaking work that resulted in the elimination of poisonous leaded gasoline in automobiles.

Bidding opens at $200,000 for the medal via Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

Olah was a Jewish Hungarian refugee who became a professor at Case Western from 1965 to 1977. He served as the C.F. Maybery Distinguished Professor of Research in Chemistry.

Olah is known for his work in hydrocarbon technology, which eliminated the need for the destructive chemical tetraethyllead in automobiles. The lead-based component was mixed in with gasoline beginning in the 1920s, even though it was hazardous and contaminated groundwater, soil and air. As a result of Olah’s work, in 1973, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued the “lead phasedown” program requiring a reduction in lead content in gasoline.

Olah died in 2017 at 89. He won the prize while he was working at the University of California-Los Angeles. At the time, he held 85 patents from seven countries.

“There is nothing in our life that is not touched by hydrocarbons, from pharmaceuticals to gasoline,” Olah was quoted after winning. “Hydrocarbons are the ingredients of oil and natural gas. When you fill up your car in the morning, it is composed of hydrocarbons.”

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