T. David Briant, MD

It gives me great pleasure to introduce Professor John Charles Polanyi, PC, FC, FRS, the recipient of the American Laryngological Association Award. This award is given for achievement, whether for medical or non medical work, which contributes to the field of laryngology.

Professor Polanyi was educated at the University of Manchester, England, and Princeton University in the United States and joined the University of Toronto, Canada, in 1956. He is not a medical doctor, but is a physical chemist. His early interests were in chemiluminscence of various substances. Of note is the Pergamon Press publication from London, 1956: "A Theoretical Discussion of the Conditions Necessary for Chemiluminescence Such as the 'Airglow and Aurora."' He published a number of articles on both infrared and visible chemiluminescence. In 1961 he published an article: "Proposal for an Infrared Maser [as the term laser wasn't invented at that time] Dependent on Vibrational Excitation," and later produced another article on what he termed the iraser and the vaser, infrared and visible analogues of the maser. This is of interest because the chemistry, physics, and mathematics involved led to the development of the carbon dioxide laser. He has continued his work on chemiluminescence, particularly in the infrared field.

In all, Professor Polanyi has 207 publications in this field. In 1986 he was awarded a Nobel prize for his early work in chemiluminescence. His Nobel laureate address was titled "Some Concepts in Reaction Dynamics" and involved the physics and chemistry of chemiluminescence. His early work led to an understanding of present lasers. He was not the first to build a laser; however, his work led directly to the development of what we understand as lasers. Lasers, of course, in our field have become a tremendously important tool. They allow surgeons to work with extreme accuracy with absolute control of bleeding in very inaccessible parts of the body such as the larynx or the ear. The laser in other fields has had a huge effect on the world of technology today. We are indeed honored to have Professor Polanyi with us today, and be able to in some small way honor a basic scientist whose work has led to developments in a field far from his own.

Professor Polanyi has a long series of awards. As mentioned above, in 1986 he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He has received the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London, and 26 honorary degrees from 26 countries. He served on the Prime Minister of Canada' s Advisory Board on Science and Technology and as a foreign honorary advisor to the Institute of Molecular Sciences in Japan. He is honorary advisor to the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Germany. He is a board member of the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences of Canada. He was a founding member of both the Comrnittee on Scholarly Freedom of the Royal Society and also the Canadian Committee for Scientists and Scholars, of which he is the current President. He has written extensively on science policy and on the control of armaments and is co-editor of the book The Dangers of Nuclear War. Professor Polanyi is married to a very charming and active woman, Sue, who composes, plays the piano, and teaches piano. The Polanyis have two children: a daughter who is a freelance journalist and a son who started out as a physicist and is now a social worker.

It is my great pleasure to introduce Professor John Polanyi. The title of his talk will be "Confessions of a Scientist."