1939-

French chemist recognized for his contributions in organic chemistry and the chemistry of large molecules. Lehn was born and studied in France, although he spent some time as a visiting professor at Harvard University. His research involved the recognition, transport, and catalytic properties of very large molecules, with the aim of designing molecular "devices" that might be made into molecular-scale electronic devices. Lehn won the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research in these areas.