William E. Moerner

Last updated
William E. Moerner
W.E. Moerner in 2024.jpg
Moerner in 2024
Born
William Esco Moerner

(1953-06-24) June 24, 1953 (age 71)
Pleasanton, California, U.S.
Alma mater
Awards Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2008)
Irving Langmuir Award (2009)
Peter Debye Award
(2013)
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2014)
Scientific career
Fields Chemistry, applied physics, biophysics
Institutions
Thesis Vibrational relaxation dynamics of an IR-laser-excited molecular impurity mode in alkali halide lattices  (1982)
Doctoral advisor Albert J. Sievers
Other academic advisors James Gegan Miller

William Esco Moerner, also known as W. E. Moerner, (born June 24, 1953) is an American physical chemist and chemical physicist with current work in the biophysics and imaging of single molecules. He is credited with achieving the first optical detection and spectroscopy of a single molecule in condensed phases, along with his postdoc, Lothar Kador. [1] [2] Optical study of single molecules has subsequently become a widely used single-molecule experiment in chemistry, physics and biology. [3] In 2014, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. [4] [5]

Contents

Bacteria-3D-Double-Helix. This image shows 3D super-resolution imaging of Caulobacter crescentus bacteria cell surfaces (gray) and a labeled protein (CreS, orange-red) obtained using the double-helix single-molecule active control microscopy technique. Bacteria-3D-Double-Helix.jpg
Bacteria-3D-Double-Helix.
This image shows 3D super-resolution imaging of Caulobacter crescentus bacteria cell surfaces (gray) and a labeled protein (CreS, orange-red) obtained using the double-helix single-molecule active control microscopy technique.

Early life and education

Moerner was born in Pleasanton, California, in 1953 June 24 the son of Bertha Frances (Robinson) and William Alfred Moerner. [6] He was a boy scout, with the Boy Scouts of America and became an Eagle Scout. [7] He attended Washington University in St. Louis for undergraduate studies as an Alexander S. Langsdorf Engineering Fellow, and obtained three degrees: a B.S. in physics with Final Honors, a B.S. in electrical engineering with Final Honors, and an A.B. in mathematics summa cum laude in 1975. [8]

He then pursued graduate study, partially supported by a National Science Foundation , at Cornell University in the group of Albert J. Sievers III. [9] Here he received an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. degree in physics in 1978 and 1982, respectively. His doctoral thesis was on vibrational relaxation dynamics of an IR-laser-excited molecular impurity mode in alkali halide lattices. [10] Throughout his school years, Moerner was a straight A student from 1963 to 1982, and won both the Dean's Award for Unusually Exceptional Academic Achievement as well as the Ethan A. H. Shepley Award for Outstanding Achievement when he graduated from college. [11]

Career

Moerner worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, as a research staff member from 1981 to 1988, a manager from 1988 to 1989, and project leader from 1989 to 1995. After an appointment as visiting guest professor of physical chemistry at ETH Zurich (1993–1994), he assumed the distinguished chair in physical chemistry in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego, from 1995 to 1998. In 1997 he was named the Robert Burns Woodward Visiting Professor at Harvard University. His research group moved to Stanford University in 1998, where he became professor of chemistry (1998), Harry S. Mosher Professor (2003), and professor, by courtesy, of applied physics (2005). [11] [12] [13] Moerner was appointed department chair for chemistry from 2011 to 2014. [14] His current areas of research and interest include: single-molecule spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy, physical chemistry, chemical physics, biophysics, nanoparticle trapping, nanophotonics, photorefractive polymers, and spectral hole-burning. [12] [15] As of May 2014, Moerner was listed as a faculty advisor in 26 theses written by Stanford graduate students. [16] As of May 16, 2014, there are 386 publications listed in Moerner's full CV. [17]

Recent editorial and advisory boards Moerner has served on include: member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB); [18] Advisory board member for the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academica Sinica, Taiwan; [19] advisory editorial board member for Chemical Physics Letters; [20] advisory board member for the Center for Biomedical Imaging at Stanford; [21] and chair of Stanford University's health and safety committee. [14]

Awards and honors

Moerner is the recipient the National Winner of the Outstanding Young Professional Award for 1984, [22] from the electrical engineering honorary society, Eta Kappa Nu, April 22, 1985; IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Photon-Gated Spectral Hole-Burning, July 11, 1988; [17] IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Single-Molecule Detection and Spectroscopy, November 22, 1992; [17] Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy, American Physical Society, 2001; [23] Wolf Prize in Chemistry, 2008; [24] [25] [26] Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics, American Physical Society, 2009; [27] [28] Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, 2012; [29] Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2013; [30] [31] the Engineering Alumni Achievement Award, Washington University, 2013; [8] and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2014. [4] [5] Moerner also holds more than a dozen patents.

His honorary memberships include Senior Member, IEEE, June 17, 1988, [17] and Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2007. [32] [33] He is also a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, May 28, 1992; [17] [34] the American Physical Society, November 16, 1992; [35] the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2001; [36] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2004. [37]

Personal life

Moerner was born on June 24, 1953, at Parks Air Force Base in Pleasanton, California. From birth, his family called him by his initials W. E. as a way to distinguish him from his father and grandfather who are also named William. [11] He grew up in Texas where he attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. He participated in many activities during high school: Band, Speech and Debate, Math and Science Contest Team, Bi-Phy-Chem, Masque and Gavel, National Honor Society, Boy Scouts, Amateur Radio Club, Russian Club, Forum Social Club, Toastmasters, "On the Spot" Team and Editor of Each has Spoken. Moerner and his wife, Sharon, have one son, Daniel. [38]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Curl</span> American chemist (1933–2022)

Robert Floyd Curl Jr. was an American chemist who was Pitzer–Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences and professor of chemistry at Rice University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of the nanomaterial buckminsterfullerene, and hence the fullerene class of materials, along with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto of the University of Sussex.

Robert Sanderson Mulliken was an American physicist and chemist, primarily responsible for the early development of molecular orbital theory, i.e. the elaboration of the molecular orbital method of computing the structure of molecules. Mulliken received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1966 and the Priestley Medal in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Zewail</span> Egyptian chemist (1946–2016)

Ahmed Hassan Zewail was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian and Arab to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field, and the second African to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was the Linus Pauling Chair Professor of Chemistry, a professor of physics, and the director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudley R. Herschbach</span> American chemist (born 1932)

Dudley Robert Herschbach is an American chemist at Harvard University. He won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Yuan T. Lee and John C. Polanyi "for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes". Herschbach and Lee specifically worked with molecular beams, performing crossed molecular beam experiments that enabled a detailed molecular-level understanding of many elementary reaction processes. Herschbach is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mostafa El-Sayed</span> Egyptian chemist

Mostafa A. El-Sayed is an Egyptian-American physical chemist, nanoscience researcher, member of the National Academy of Sciences and US National Medal of Science laureate. He is known for the spectroscopy rule named after him, the El-Sayed rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Karplus</span> Austrian-born American theoretical chemist

Martin Karplus is an Austrian and American theoretical chemist. He is the Director of the Biophysical Chemistry Laboratory, a joint laboratory between the French National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Strasbourg, France. He is also the Theodore William Richards Professor of Chemistry, emeritus at Harvard University. Karplus received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel, for "the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Zare</span> American chemist

Richard Neil Zare is the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science and a Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. Throughout his career, Zare has made a considerable impact in physical chemistry and analytical chemistry, particularly through the development of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and the study of chemical reactions at the molecular and nanoscale level. LIF is an extremely sensitive technique with applications ranging from analytical chemistry and molecular biology to astrophysics. One of its applications was the sequencing of the human genome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Chu</span> American physicist and former U.S. Secretary of Energy (born 1948)

Steven Chu is an American physicist and former government official. He is a Nobel laureate and was the 12th U.S. secretary of energy. He is currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. He is known for his research at the University of California, Berkeley, and his research at Bell Laboratories and Stanford University regarding the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, for which he shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips.

Herbert Sander Gutowsky was an American chemist who was a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Gutowsky was the first to apply nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods to the field of chemistry. He used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the structure of molecules. His pioneering work developed experimental control of NMR as a scientific instrument, connected experimental observations with theoretical models, and made NMR one of the most effective analytical tools for analysis of molecular structure and dynamics in liquids, solids, and gases, used in chemical and medical research, His work was relevant to the solving of problems in chemistry, biochemistry, and materials science, and has influenced many of the subfields of more recent NMR spectroscopy.

Harden M. McConnell was an American physical chemist. His many awards included the National Medal of Science and the Wolf Prize, and he was elected to the National Academy of Science."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis E. Brus</span> American chemist

Louis Eugene Brus is an American chemist, and currently the Samuel Latham Mitchell Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University. He is the co-discoverer of the colloidal semi-conductor nanocrystals known as quantum dots. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard J. Saykally</span> American chemist

Richard James Saykally is an American chemist. He is currently the Class of 1932 Endowed Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He has received numerous awards for his research on the molecular characteristics of water and aqueous solutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Gruebele</span>

Martin Gruebele is a German-born American physical chemist and biophysicist who is currently emeritus James R. Eiszner Chair in Chemistry, Professor of Physics, Professor of Biophysics and Computational Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Donald Harris Levy is an American chemical physicist on the faculty of the University of Chicago, Chicago, US. He is recognized as a leader in the development of supersonic jet cooling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Betzig</span> American physicist

Robert Eric Betzig is an American physicist who works as a professor of physics and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a senior fellow at the Janelia Farm Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.

Michael David Fayer is an American chemical physicist. He is the David Mulvane Ehrsam and Edward Curtis Franklin Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cho Minhaeng</span> South Korean scientist (born 1965)

Cho Minhaeng is a South Korean scientist in researching physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and microscopy. He was director of the National Creative Research Initiative Center for Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy and is founding director of the Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics in the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), located in Korea University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Stolow</span> Canadian molecular photonics professor

Albert Stolow is a Canadian physicist. He is the Canada Research Chair in Molecular Photonics, full professor of chemistry & biomolecular sciences and of physics, and a member of the Ottawa Institute for Systems Biology at the University of Ottawa. He is the founder and an ongoing member of the Molecular Photonics Group at the National Research Council of Canada. He is adjunct professor of Chemistry and of Physics at Queen's University in Kingston, and a Graduate Faculty Scholar in the department of physics, University of Central Florida and a Fellow of the Max-Planck-uOttawa Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics. In 2008, he was elected a Fellow in the American Physical Society, nominated by its Division of Chemical Physics in 2008, for contributions to ultrafast laser science as applied to molecular physics, including time-resolved studies of non-adiabatic dynamics in excited molecules, non-perturbative quantum control of molecular dynamics, and dynamics of polyatomic molecules in strong laser fields. In 2008, Stolow won the Keith Laidler Award of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, for a distinguished contribution to the field of physical chemistry, recognizing early career achievement. In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the Optical Society of America for the application of ultrafast optical techniques to molecular dynamics and control, in particular, studies of molecules in strong laser fields and the development of new methods of optical quantum control. In 2013, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (Canada). In 2017, Stolow was awarded the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics of the American Physical Society for the development of methods for probing and controlling ultrafast dynamics in polyatomic molecules, including time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and imaging, strong field molecular ionization, and dynamic Stark quantum control. In 2018, Stolow was awarded the John C. Polanyi Award of the Canadian Society for Chemistry “for excellence by a scientist carrying out research in Canada in physical, theoretical or computational chemistry or chemical physics”. In 2020, he became Chair of the Division of Chemical Physics of the American Physical Society. His group's research interests include ultrafast molecular dynamics and quantum control, time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and imaging, strong field & attosecond physics of polyatomic molecules, and coherent non-linear optical microscopy of live cells/tissues, materials and geological samples. In 2020, Stolow launched a major new high power ultrafast laser facility at the University of Ottawa producing high energy, phase-controlled few-cycle pulses of 2 micron wavelength at 10 kHz repetition rate. These are used for High Harmonic Generation to produce bright ultrafast Soft X-ray pulses for a new Ultrafast Xray Science Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James L. Skinner</span> American theoretical chemist (born 1953)

James L. Skinner is an American theoretical chemist. He is the Joseph O. and Elizabeth S. Hirschfelder Professor Emeritus at the University Wisconsin-Madison. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Welch Foundation. Most recently, Skinner was the Crown Family Professor of Molecular Engineering, professor of chemistry, director of the Water Research Initiative and deputy dean for faculty affairs of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. Skinner is recognized for his contributions to the fields of theoretical chemistry, nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, linear and nonlinear spectroscopy of liquids, amorphous and crystalline solids, surfaces, proteins, and supercritical fluids. Skinner is the co-author of over 230 peer-reviewed research articles.

Gabriela S. Schlau-Cohen is a Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Career Development Associate Professor at MIT in the Department of Chemistry.

References

  1. ↑ Reich, Ziv; Kapon, Ruti (8 June 2010). "Foreword by the Guest Editors". Israel Journal of Chemistry. 49 (3–4). Wiley: n/a. doi: 10.1002/ijch.201090002 . ISSN   0021-2148.
  2. ↑ Moerner, W. E.; Kador, L. (22 May 1989). "Optical detection and spectroscopy of single molecules in a solid". Physical Review Letters. 62 (21). American Physical Society (APS): 2535–2538. Bibcode:1989PhRvL..62.2535M. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.62.2535 . ISSN   0031-9007. PMID   10040013.
  3. ↑ Gräslund, Astrid; Rigler, Rudolf; Widengren, Jerker, eds. (2010). "Single Molecule Spectroscopy in Chemistry, Physics and Biology". Springer Series in Chemical Physics. Vol. 96. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-02597-6. ISBN   978-3-642-02596-9. ISSN   0172-6218.
  4. 1 2 "Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014." Nobelprize.org (accessed October 8, 2014).
  5. 1 2 "Professor W.E. Moerner wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry." Stanford Report, October 8, 2014 (accessed October 8, 2014).
  6. ↑ Dignitymemorial.com
  7. ↑ "Eagle Scout William E. Moerner Shares Nobel Prize in Chemistry". October 15, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Engineering Alumni Achievement Award, Washington University, 2013 Archived May 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 1, 2014).
  9. ↑ Academic Family Tree. Accessed May 9, 2014.
  10. ↑ Moerner, W. E. 1982. Vibrational relaxation dynamics of an IR-laser-excited molecular impurity mode in alkali halide lattices. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, Jan. 1982. 591 pages. Worldcat.org
  11. 1 2 3 Kan, L., & Lin, S. H. (2011). Wolf Prize in chemistry : an epitome of chemistry in 20th century and beyond . Singapore: World Scientific. p. 556.
  12. 1 2 Stanford University. Department of Chemistry. Faculty. W. E. Moerner. Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 15, 2014).
  13. ↑ "Stanford University. Department of Applied Physics. W. E. Moerner". Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  14. 1 2 W. E. Moerner | Stanford University Profiles (accessed May 15, 2014).
  15. ↑ Spie (5 March 2015). "William E. Moerner plenary presentation: Single-molecule spectroscopy, imaging, and photocontrol – foundations for super-resolution microscopy". SPIE Newsroom. SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng. doi:10.1117/2.3201503.17. ISSN   1818-2259.
  16. ↑ Stanford Searchworks. Accessed May 9, 2014.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Full CV for W. E. (William Esco) Moerner (accessed May 15, 2014).
  18. ↑ NIBIB Board of Scientific Counselors Archived 2014-10-13 at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 14, 2014).
  19. ↑ Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academica Sinica, Taiwan, Advisory Board (accessed May 14, 2014).
  20. ↑ Chemical Physics Letters Editorial Board, Advisory Editorial Board Member (accessed May 14, 2014).
  21. ↑ Center for Biomedical Imaging at Stanford. People Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 15, 2014).
  22. ↑ Eta Kappa Nu. Outstanding Young Professional Award. Past Award Recipients.(accessed May 1, 2014).
  23. ↑ Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy & Dynamics. (accessed May 1, 2014).
  24. ↑ The 2008 Wolf Prize in Chemistry (accessed May 1, 2014).
  25. ↑ Hayley Rutger. 2008. "Professor William E. Moerner awarded Wolf Prize in Chemistry." Stanford Report, February 6, 2008.
  26. ↑ Kan, L., & Lin, S. H. (2011). Wolf Prize in chemistry : an epitome of chemistry in 20th century and beyond. Singapore: World Scientific. pp. 553–577.
  27. ↑ 2009 Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics Recipient (accessed 1 Mary 2014).
  28. ↑ "W.E. Moerner wins chemical physics prize." Stanford Report, October 15, 2008.
  29. ↑ Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, 2012 (accessed May 1, 2014).
  30. ↑ "ACS 2013 National Award Winners." C&EN 90 (34): 53–54 (August 20, 2012).
  31. ↑ ACS Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry (accessed May 1, 2014).
  32. ↑ Mark Schwartz and Lisa Trei. 2007. "Five professors among new members elected to National Academy of Sciences." Stanford Report, May 3, 2007.
  33. ↑ Nair, P. (9 April 2012). "QnAs with W. E. Moerner". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (17): 6357. Bibcode:2012PNAS..109.6357N. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1204426109 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   3340104 . PMID   22493263.
  34. ↑ Optical Society of America. Fellow Members Directory. (Members and registered users may search for current Fellow Members on-line in a directory.) Moerner is listed a Fellow for 1992 (accessed May 14, 2014).
  35. ↑ APS Fellows (accessed May 1, 2014).
  36. ↑ "Three Stanford professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences." Stanford Report, May 2, 2001.
  37. ↑ Mark Shwartz. 2003. "Five professors join the ranks of noted science fellows." Stanford Report, November 5, 2003.
  38. ↑ Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Association – Blog: Mustang Spotlight on W. E. Moerner '71 Archived 2021-11-29 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved September 16, 2013).isad
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.