The 2015 John Scott Award is presented to John Perdew, Carnell Professor of Chemistry and Physics, for his key role in the development of density functional theory (DFT), which has led to a fundamental understanding and design of the structure and behavior of materials. 

Since 1835, the John Scott Award has been given to those whose inventions have contributed to the 'comfort, welfare and happiness' of humankind. Past winners include Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, R. Buckminster Fuller, Jonas Salk and Nikola Tesla. 

Speakers include:

On Variational Principles in Density Functional Theory
Melvyn Levy
Professor Emeritus, Tulane University
 
Self-Interaction Correction to Density Functional Theory: Now and Then, with Application to
Molecular Systems
Mark R. Pederson
Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University
 
Density Functional Theory-Fractional Perspectives and Pairing Fluctuations
Weitao Yang
Philip Handler Professor of Chemistry and Physics,
Duke University