Richard J. Saykally
| Richard J. Saykally | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1947 |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |
| Doctoral students | Martin Gruebele |
| Known for | Molecular characteristics and structure of water |
Richard J. Saykally (born 1947) is an American chemist. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He has received numerous awards for his research on the molecular characteristics of water.
Early life and education
Born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin,[1] Saykally received a B.S. degree in Physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.[2] He received a Ph. D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1977. He was an NRC postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Boulder, Colorado) from 1977-1979.
Career
Saykally's first faculty position was at the University of California, Berkeley in 1979. He has remained at that institution his entire career, and holds the Class of 1932 Professor Chair there.[3]
Saykally was listed number 15 in the Science Watch Magazine's "Cream of the Crop in Chemistry", a compilation of "high-impact" papers in chemistry published 1994-1996. This review tabulates the number of citations a given author's works receives in the published literature.[4] This compilation stated "Investigation of a particular liquid - water - accounts for the presence of yet another UC Berkeley chemist on the list: Richard J. Saykally. his four highly-cited reports contribute to a detailed picture, on a time scale of trillionths of a second, of the complex interactions of water molecules."
Additionally, Saykally participated in the award-winning US PBS television series The Sacred Balance. The second episode of that series showed Saykally explaining how the structure of the water molecule gives it special properties.[5]
Saykally and his research team pioneered IR Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy and the study of small clusters of water molecules.[6]
Awards and honors
- received Camille and Henry Dreyfus Award (1979)
- received Presidential Young Investigator Award (1984)
- named to Miller Research Professor Chair (1985–1986)
- received E. K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy (1989)
- received Michelson Prize for Spectroscopy (1989)
- received Lippincott Medal for Spectroscopy (1992)
- received Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award (1992)
- received American Chemical Society Harrison Howe Award (1992)
- received Royal Society of Chemistry Bourke Medal (1992)
- received Churchill Fellowship at University of Cambridge (1995)
- received Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (1995)
- named Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995)
- named Fellow of American Physical Society
- named Fellow of Optical Society of America
- named Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry
- named Member of United States National Academy of Sciences (1999)
- received Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award (1999)
- received ACS Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics (2000)
- received the Royal Society of Chemistry's Centenary Medal (2000)
- received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award (2004)
- received the Johannes Markus Marci Medal (Czechoslovakia)(2004)
- filled the Morino Lectureship chair (Japan)(2005)
- filled the University of Oxford Hinshelwood Lectureship chair (2006)
- filled the Inaugural Solvay Chair in Chemistry (Belgium)(2008)
- received the ACS Peter DeBye Award in Physical Chemistry (2009)
Current research interests
As of 2009, Saykally's active research includes:[7]
- Tetrahertz laser spectroscopy of clusters
- Synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy of liquids and liquid surfaces
- Nonlinear chemical imaging of nanoscale matter
- Chemical interactions on liquid surfaces
References
- ↑ http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/rjsgrp/joomla/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=2&Itemid=17[]
- ↑ Chemical & Engineering News, 23 February 2009, "Proud Profs", p. 4
- ↑ Chemical & Engineering News, 19 January 2009, "Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry", p. 75
- ↑ http://archive.sciencewatch.com/july-aug98/science-watch_july-aug98_page1.htm[]
- ↑ http://www.sacredbalance.com/web/drilldown.html?sku=9.5[]
- ↑ http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/rjsgrp/index.htm[]
- ↑ http://chem.berkeley.edu/faculty/saykally/index.html[]