Alan MacDiarmid, 79, Nobel laureate

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Nobel chemistry laureate Alan MacDiarmid has died, Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand said yesterday. He was 79.

The scientist died after a fall at his home in Philadelphia on Wednesday, his sister Alice Palmer said yesterday in New Zealand.

Mr. MacDiarmid was one of three joint winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 for the discovery that plastic can be made electrically conductive -- an advance that led to improvements in film, TV screens, and windows.

Born in New Zealand, he attended Victoria University in the capital, Wellington, before winning a Fulbright scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin.

Mr. MacDiarmid worked in the United States since 1950 and taught at the University of Pennsylvania for about 45 years.

Mr. MacDiarmid maintained close links with institutions in New Zealand. "He will be remembered for outstanding scientific achievements, for being a wonderful human being, for a tremendous generosity of spirit, for his pride in being a New Zealander, and for his contribution of service to our country," Clark said.