What Are Some of the Keynote Events Set to Take Place at the ACS Fall 2026 Meeting?

From August 23–27^th, analytical chemists, spectroscopists, researchers, vendors, and industry professionals will gather at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, for the American Chemical Society (ACS)’s Fall 2026 Meeting.¹ The conference will highlight the latest developments, trends, and advancements in chemistry and laboratory science.

Spectroscopy programming will include analytical “Advances in Spectroscopy” sessions and physical chemistry symposia on time-resolved optical/THz/X-ray modalities, multidimensional methods, and theory–experiment integration with machine learning and HPC.¹

Apart from a technical program that will feature keynotes, technical sessions, networking events, and other social opportunities, ACS Fall 2026 will also celebrate the 150^th year of ACS’s existence. Because the conference will celebrate 150 years, ACS has a morning symposium planned that will feature Nobel Laureates spanning biorthogonal chemistry, super-resolution microscopy, origins of genetic information, and lithium battery chemistry.¹

In this article, we highlight some of the keynotes that attendees can look forward to at the conference.

What are some of the keynotes set to take place at the ACS Fall 2026 Meeting?

The keynote programming kicks off on Sunday, August 23, from 4:00–6:30 PM CT (doors open 3:30 PM), with the ACS Board of Directors Open Meeting hosting the 2026 ChemLuminary Awards.² During this keynote, current ACS President Rigoberto Hernandez and President-Elect Christina Bodurow will announce and present awards selected by ACS Divisions and Committees. Immediately afterward, attendees are invited to the ACS Connect Reception from 6:30–8:30 PM, featuring food and dancing.²

The next major keynote will take place on Tuesday August 25^th from 9 am to 1 pm in the Skyline Ballroom. This keynote, titled ACS150 JACS Symposium Series: “Chemistry Is Everything,” will feature a gathering of four Nobel Laureates, all of whom will deliver talks.

The four Nobel Laureates who are set to speak include:

1. Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi (Stanford University) is a 2022 Chemistry Nobel Laureate and Editor-in-Chief of ACS Central Science, recognized for pioneering biorthogonal chemistry that enables reactions inside living systems without disrupting native biology, with major impacts on glycobiology, imaging, and therapeutics.²
2. Prof. Stefan W. Hell is a 2014 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, honored for his work in super-resolution microscopy.²
3. Prof. Jack W. Szostak is a 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, known for research into the origins of genetic information.²
4. Prof. M. Stanley Whittingham (Binghamton University) is a 2019 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, celebrated for discovering lithium rechargeable battery materials, and currently leading major energy-storage research initiatives.²

What about the Kavli Lecture Series?

The Kavli Lecture Series will feature two talks, one of which will take place on Monday August 24^th and the other will take place on Tuesday August 25^th. The first talk, which will be delivered by Connor W. Coley of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will discuss how computational methods, particularly deep learning and generative modeling, are reshaping synthesis planning and therapeutic discovery, while urging a critical eye toward separating genuine advances from hype in the field.² Framed around ACS's 150th anniversary, it reflects on how the growing integration of chemistry and computation is broadening the questions chemists can ask and investigate.²

The second talk, which will be delivered by John C. Warner of Rochester Institute of Technology, will argue that even with strong market and regulatory pressure, the chemical enterprise struggles to deliver products that are high-performing, cost-competitive, and inherently safer, largely because most chemists aren't trained to consider toxicology, environmental fate, and exposure pathways at the design stage, leaving hazard reduction to downstream fixes rather than built-in design choices.² Drawing on industrial case studies, Warner will trace green chemistry's evolution into practice and show how eliminating hazard from the outset can drive innovation and market advantage without sacrificing performance or cost.²

References

1. Wetzel, W.; Spectroscopy Staff. Why Spectroscopists Should Attend the ACS Fall 2026 Conference. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/why-spectroscopists-should-attend-the-acs-fall-2026-conference (accessed July 7, 2026).
2. American Chemical Society, Keynote Events. American Chemical Society, 2026. https://www.acs.org/events/fall/program/keynote-events.html (accessed July 7, 2026).