George Andrew Olah

George Andrew Olah
Olah in 2009
Born
Oláh András György

(1927-05-22)May 22, 1927
DiedMarch 8, 2017(2017-03-08) (aged 89)
Citizenship
  • Hungary
  • U.S.
Alma materBudapest University of Technology and Economics
Known forCarbocations via superacids
Spouse
Judit Lengyel
(m. 1949)
Children2
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
Institutions

George Andrew Olah (born Oláh András György; May 22, 1927 – March 8, 2017) was a Hungarian-American chemist. His research involved the generation and reactivity of carbocations via superacids. For this research, Olah was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994 "for his contribution to carbocation chemistry." He was also awarded the Priestley Medal, the highest honor granted by the American Chemical Society and F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the American Chemical Society in 1996.

After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he immigrated to the United Kingdom, which he left for Canada in 1964, finally resettling in the United States in 1965. According to György Marx, he was one of The Martians.