About Paul Alivisatos
Armand Paul Alivisatos is the University of California, Berkeley's Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost and Samsung Distinguished Professor of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He will become of the President of the University of Chicago in September. He is also the Director Emeritus of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, founding director of the Kavli Energy Nanoscience Institute (ENSI) and a founder of prominent nanotechnology companies, Nanosys, Inc., and Quantum Dot Corp, now a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Groundbreaking contributions to the fundamental physical chemistry of nanocrystals are the hallmarks of Alivisatos' scientific career. His research accomplishments include studies of the scaling laws governing the optical, electrical, structural and thermodynamic properties of nanocrystals. He developed methods to synthesize size and shape-controlled nanocrystals, and for preparing branched, hollow, nested and segmented nanocrystals. In his research, he has demonstrated key applications of nanocrystals in biological imaging, renewable energy and electronic displays, including the widely-used quantum dot television technology. He played a critical role in the establishment of the Molecular Foundry, a U.S. Department of Energy Nanoscale Science Research Center, and was the facility's founding director. He was an early and prominent advocate for both the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative and the U.S. National BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative. He is the founding editor of Nano Letters, a leading scientific publication of the American Chemical Society in nanoscience.
Alivisatos has previously been recognized for his accomplishments with awards such as the Dan David Prize, the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Wilhelm Exner Medal, the Priestley Medal, the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, among others.
He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the U.S. National Academy of Inventors.
Alivisatos received a BA degree in chemistry in 1981 from the University of Chicago and a PhD degree in chemistry from University of California, Berkeley, in 1986. He began his career with University of California, Berkeley, in 1988 and with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1991.