Graham Hutchings is a chemist who works in the area of heterogeneous catalysis. Graham pioneered the use of gold — previously regarded as the least reactive of metals — as a remarkable catalyst. His findings represent a huge leap forward for the chemical industry with respect to protecting the environment as gold catalysts permit cleaner reactions with fewer by-products.

Graham has made a number of seminal contributions to this new field of chemistry. His research has extended the range of reactions that can be catalysed by gold nanoparticles, such as the oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes using a gold–palladium/titanium dioxide combination and without the need for a solvent.

He has received a number of honours throughout his career, including awards for green chemistry and sustainability. These include three awards received from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2004, 2007 and 2009. He was awarded the Royal Society Davey Medal in 2013. In 2012 and 2014, respectively, Graham was acknowledged as a Thomson Reuters’ Citation Laureate and as one of Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researchers.