People

Principal Investigator

Paul Alivisatos

Paul Alivisatos, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory; Samsung Distinguished Professor of
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Professor of Chemistry and
Materials Science & Engineering

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Paul Alivisatos is Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and is the University of California (UC) Berkeley's Samsung Distinguished Professor of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He also directs the Kavli Energy Nanosciences Institute (ENSI), and holds professorships in UC Berkeley's departments of materials science and chemistry. In addition, he is a founder of two prominent nanotechnology companies, Nanosys and Quantum Dot Corp, now a part of Life Tech.

Groundbreaking contributions to the fundamental physical chemistry of nanocrystals are the hallmarks of Dr. Alivisatos's distinguished career. His research breakthroughs include the synthesis of size- and shape-controlled nanoscrystals, and forefront studies of nanocrystal properties, including optical, electrical, structural and thermodynamic. In his research, he has demonstrated key applications of nanocrystals in biological imaging and renewable energy. He played a critical role in the establishment of the Molecular Foundry, a U.S. Department of Energy's Nanoscale Science Research Center; and was the facility's founding director. He is the founding editor of Nano Letters, a leading scientific publication in nanoscience.

Dr. Alivisatos has been recognized for his accomplishments, with awards such as the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Linus Pauling Medal, the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, the Eni Italgas Prize for Energy and Environment, the Rank Prize for Optoelectronics, the Wilson Prize, the Coblentz Award for Advances in Molecular Spectroscopy, the American Chemical Society Award for Colloid and Surface Science, the Von Hippel Award of the Materials Research Society, and most recently, the 2014 ACS Materials Chemistry Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Alivisatos received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 1981 from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1986. He began his career with UC Berkeley in 1988 and with Berkeley Lab in 1991.