Stoddart, James Fraser, 1942–, British chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1966. He began his career at Sheffield Univ., England, in 1970, then moved to Birmingham Univ., England, in 1990, the Univ. of California, Los Angeles, in 1997 (emeritus from 2007), and Northwestern Univ. in 2007. Stoddart shared the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Bernard Feringa “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.” Molecular machines are molecules that can perform tasks when provided with energy. Building on Sauvage's 1983 breakthrough that resulted in the ability to link two molecules with an easily manipulated mechanical bond, Stoddart created a ring of molecules that could travel along an axle in a controlled manner when heat was added. Feringa further built on their accomplishments by developing a molecular motor in 1999. See also micromechanics.
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