How was Richard E. Smalley awarded the Nobel Prize?

Name: Richard E. Smalley. 
Country: United States.
Date of Birth: 6 June 1943.
Died: 28 October 2005.
The subject of Study: C60 fullerene.
Noble Prize Year: Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996 for their research on the discovery of carbon-60 or buckminsterfullerene