WEST LAFAYETTE – Ei-ichi Negishi, Purdue University’s Nobel Prize winner, will receive Japan’s highest distinction, the Order of Culture on Nov. 3 from the emperor of Japan.

            Negishi is the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and created a method to build complex organic molecules necessary in pharmaceutical manufacturing, electronics and other fields.

            “The award is one of Japan’s most prestigious honors, which recognizes individuals who have made great contributions in academia and culture,” said George Hisaeda, consul general of Japan in Chicago.

            Negishi will be recognized as a person of cultural merit. The Order of Culture was established in 1937 and recipients are chosen by the prime minister and cabinet.

            He grew up in Japan and received a bachelor’s degree in organic chemistry from the University of Tokyo in 1958. He moved to the United States in 1960 to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a doctorate in 1963. He later was a professor at Syracuse University before going to Purdue in 1979.