Who is Avelino Corma, the Moncofa chemist who became a world reference in catalysis?

Avelino Corma was born in Moncofa, on the Castellón coast, on 15 December 1951. He readily traces his scientific calling to his roots: his taste for science, he says, comes from "observing nature and my parents' drive to awaken my curiosity." Married with a son, he has stayed attached to his home village, where he owns a flat with a sea view and spends his weekends off.

His academic path first took him to the University of Valencia, where he studied chemistry from 1967 to 1973. He then earned a doctorate at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1976, supervised by Professor Antonio Cortés Arroyo at the CSIC's Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry, followed by a two-year postdoc at Queen's University in Canada.

Back in Spain, Corma founded the Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIC-UPV) in Valencia. His scientific output is considerable: more than 1,200 published papers and 200 patents, around twenty of which are used industrially.

This body of work has earned him a long list of honours: the Princess of Asturias Award, the BBVA Foundation's Frontiers of Knowledge Award, the Jaume I Award, the Gold Medal of the Real Sociedad Española de Química, and the 2023 European Inventor Award.

Among his hobbies, he lists cinema, reading, music and cooking for family and friends. "Aspiro a seguir emocionándome con la ciencia y con el descubrimiento" ("I hope to keep getting excited about science and discovery"), he told elperiodic.com on 17 February 2021.

On 28 December 2024, his home town named him Hijo Predilecto de Moncofa (Favourite Son of Moncofa). On 4 June 2026, he was honoured as winner of the Science and Innovation category at the Premios XLSemanal 2026.

Photo credit: photo by Katya ITQ, public domain, Wikimedia Commons.