Dr. James Tour is a chemist, nanotechnologist, Biblical scholar and Messianic Jew. He serves as a Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Computer Science, and Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University.
Although Professor Tour’s research areas include organic chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, nanomedicine, green carbon research, graphene, nanotechnology, and K-12 educational outreach, he says he has studied the Scriptures “more than any other topic in my life, including chemistry”. Born and raised a Jew in the New York City area, while a college student in 1977, Tour “came to the realization that Jesus Christ is indeed the Jewish Messiah.” In his words: “I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me for my sins and to come into my heart. The result was an immediate and sustaining sense of his presence, peace and joy in a manner that I had never before known.” His faith story and beliefs can be found at jmtour.com/personal-topics/personal-statement/
Professor Tour’s intellectual property has been the seed for the formation of several other companies including Weebit (silicon oxide electronic memory), Dotz (graphene quantum), Zeta Energy (batteries), NeuroCords (spinal cord repair), Xerient (treatment of pancreas cancer), LIGC Application Ltd. (laser-induced graphene), Nanorobotics (molecular nanomachines in medicine) Universal Matter Ltd. (US) and Universal Matter Inc. (Canada) (flash graphene synthesis), Roswell Biotechnologies (molecular electronic DNA sequencing) and Rust Patrol (corrosion inhibitors).
Tour has over 700 research publications and over 140 patent families. Professor Tour’s recognition and awards are too numerous to list, but here is just a sample of recent accomplishments:
- Tour became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2020 and in the same year was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Centenary Prize for innovations in materials chemistry with applications in medicine and nanotechnology.
- Based on the impact of his published work, in 2019 Tour was ranked in the top 0.004% of the 7 million scientists who have published at least 5 papers in their careers.
- He was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2015.
- Tour was named among “The 50 Most Influential Scientists in the World Today” by TheBestSchools.org in 2019.
- Tour was listed in “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” by Thomson Reuters ScienceWatch.com in 2014.
- Tour was named “Scientist of the Year” by R&D Magazine, 2013.
Dr. Tour’s education is extensive, including: Stanford University, National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow, Organic Chemistry, 1987-88 with Barry M. Trost; University of Wisconsin, Postdoctoral Fellow, Organometallic Chemistry, 1986-87 with Barry M. Trost; Purdue University, Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 1986 with E. Negishi; Syracuse University, B.S., Chemistry, 1981.
Dr. Tour has been married to his wife for nearly 40 years and they have four children, all of whom share his belief in Jesus.