| William Esco Moerner | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pleasanton, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | Stanford University |
| Alma mater | Washington University in St. Louis, Cornell University |
| Notable awards | Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2008) |
William Esco Moerner (usually known as W.E. Moerner), was born in 1953 in Pleasanton, California, and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. He received his B.S. in Physics with Top Honors, B.S. in Electrical Engineering with Top Honors, and his A.B. in Mathematics summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis in 1975 followed by his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1978 and 1982, respectively. His positions include: Research Staff Member and Manager at IBM Research in San Jose, California from 1981 to 1995; Visiting Guest Professor at ETH Zürich from 1993 to 1994; Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry at The University of California, San Diego from 1995 to 1998; Robert B. Woodward Visiting Professor at Harvard University in winter 1997-1998; and Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University from 1998 to the present.
Professor Moerner is credited with achieving the first optical detection and spectroscopy of a single molecule in condensed phases,[1] along with his postdoc, Lothar Kador. Optical study of single molecules has subsequently become a widely used single-molecule experiment in chemistry, physics, and biology.[2] Professor Moerner has received the Roger I. Wilkinson National Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer Award (1984), the Earle K. Plyler Prize from the American Physical Society (2001), Fellowships in the American Physical Society, Optical Society of America, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Membership in the National Academy of Sciences (2007), the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2008), and the Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics (2009).
Professor Moerner is currently the Harry S. Mosher Professor at Stanford University in the Chemistry Department, with a courtesy appointment in Applied Physics. Areas of research and interest include: single-molecule spectroscopy and imaging, physical chemistry, chemical physics, biophysics, nanophotonics, and nanoparticle trapping. For more details, see the Moerner Laboratory homepage.
Although born in California, W.E. Moerner grew up in Texas, which, as he says, explains why his parents referred to him by his initials from birth to distinguish him from his father and grandfather, also both named William. In honor/memory of his parents, he continues to use initials. His formal name is William Esco Moerner.
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