1904-1989

American chemist who received the 1987 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, along with Jean Lehn and Donald Cram, for work involving the development of crown ethers and phenolic ligands. Born in Korea to his Norwegian father and Japanese mother, Pederson moved to the United States after graduating from high school. He spent his entire professional career as a research chemist for the Du Pont Company, performing research in a number of areas of chemistry, including polymer and petroleum chemistry.