Deutsche Bank Park was sent into raptures when Goncalo Paciencia headed home a late equaliser to earn the Eagles a 2-2 draw against Royal Antwerp on Thursday – but the Portuguese forward’s goal was not the only reason to celebrate at Eintracht’s final Europa League home game of 2021.
Shortly before kick-off, board spokesman Axel Hellmann welcomed Benjamin List, recent winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, onto the pitch. “It’s a special pleasure for me to honour someone who isn’t an athlete, but who has nevertheless won the greatest award you can win in your field,” Hellmann told Professor List, who was born in Frankfurt in 1968 and grew up in the Main region. As a token of recognition, Hellmann presented List with an honorary membership and a framed Eintracht jersey bearing his surname and the number ten.
List, who earned his doctorate at Goethe University in 1997, received the Nobel Prize for developing a method of accelerating chemical reactions alongside Scottish-born American researcher David W. C. MacMillan. This process, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, is known as asymmetric organocatalysis.
I’m really proud to have helped with this, but I’m even prouder to be here today with Eintracht – my favourite club for as long as I can remember.
Benjamin List
“We’ve discovered a new type of catalyst that can be used to make drugs – against HIV, for example,” said List, 53, who now works at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mühlheim an der Ruhr and learned of his award while sat at the breakfast table during a family holiday in Amsterdam. “I’m really proud to have helped with this, but I’m even prouder to be here today with Eintracht – my favourite club for as long as I can remember.”
The ceremonial presentation of the most prestigious award in the field of chemistry takes place on 10 December – the anniversary of the death of founder Alfred Nobel.
List is certainly no novice when it comes to celebrating major achievements. “I was here in 1980 for the UEFA Cup final,” he explained. “I think it’ll be the same again this year. Thank you, Axel, for making this possible.”
The Eintracht family is proud to welcome its new honorary member.