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Spectrum, Physics Today, Materials To- of Chemical Physics in 1984. He is cur- World Technology Network. His honors day, Accounts of Chemical Research, and rently an IBM Fellow and manager of include the Irving Langmuir Prize for Industrial Physicist. He has trained many Nanoscience and . He Chemical Physics (American Physical postdoctoral researchers who have gone has also been an adjunct professor at Society), the Medard W. Welch Award on to academic and industrial positions and the University (American Vacuum Society), the IEEE around the world. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Nanotechnology Pioneer Award, the Avouris received his BSc degree in Avouris is a member of the Ameri- Richard Feynman Prize for Nanotech- chemistry from the Aristotle University can Academy of Arts and Sciences and nology (Foresight Institute), the Rich- in Greece (1968) and his PhD degree in the Academy of Athens, as well as a ard E. Smalley Prize (Electrochemical physical chemistry from Michigan State senior member of IEEE and a fellow Society), the Julius Springer Award for University (1974). After postdoctoral of the American Physical Society, the Applied Physics, the AVS Nanotech- work in physical chemistry at the Univer- U.K. Institute of Physics, the American nology Research Award, the IBM Pat sity of California–Los Angeles and AT&T Association for the Advancement of Sci- Goldberg Memorial Award, and many Bell Labs, he joined the IBM Research ence, the American Vacuum Society, the IBM Outstanding Technical Achieve- Division in 1978 and became manager New York Academy of Science, and the ment awards.

demonstrated an ideal platform to inde- pendently study and optimize light ab- sorption, charge separation, and charge Peidong Yang named collection. More recently, his group has been exploring the possibility of using 2011 MRS Medalist the high-surface-area nanowire arrays as photoelectrodes for the purpose of arti¿ - for nanowire research cial photosynthesis. Yang is currently the Department Head and North Site Direc- tor of the Department of Energy, Joint Center of Arti¿ cial Photosynthesis. After receiving a BS degree in chem- istry from the University of Science he Materials Research Society has broad-ranging breakthroughs to nanosci- and Technology of (1993) and a Tnamed Peidong Yang of the Univer- ence and nanotechnology. He developed PhD degree in chemistry from Harvard sity of California–Berkeley and founder new and general approaches for the syn- University (1997), Yang did postdoc- of Alphabet Energy, Inc., as MRS Med- thesis of metal oxide and semiconduc- toral research on mesoporous materials alist. He was cited for “outstanding con- tor nanowires which opened signi¿ cant at the University of California–Santa tributions in the creative synthesis and opportunities for fundamental studies Barbara. He began his faculty appoint- assembly of semiconductor nanowires of the optical and electronic properties ment at Berkeley in 1999. Yang is an and their heterostructures, and innova- of quantum-con¿ ned and periodic sys- Alfred P. Sloan research fel- tions in nanowire-based photonics, ther- tems, and applications of these materials low (2001–2004), and has moelectrics, solar energy conversion and for nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. been awarded a Camille Dreyfus New nanoÀ uidic applications.” Yang will be His seminal optical studies of zinc ox- Faculty Award, the Arnold and Mabel recognized during the awards ceremony ide nanowires mark the discovery and Beckman Young Investigator Award, at the 2011 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, demonstration of the ¿ rst nanoscale laser the National Science Foundation (NSF) where he will also give an award talk in which the nanowire itself de¿ nes the Young Investigator Award, ExxonMo- on “Semiconductor nanowires for solar optical cavity. bil Solid State Chemistry Fellowship, energy conversion.” Yang will give his In the area of nanophotonics, Yang Dupont Young Professorship, Julius presentation on Wednesday, November recently made seminal contributions to Springer Prize for Applied Physics, the 30 at 12:15 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom renewable energy through his studies of American Chemical Society Pure Chem- of the Sheraton Hotel. a nanowire-enabled dye-sensitized so- istry Award, Baekeland Medal, and the Yang, an MRS fellow and former re- lar cell and a core–shell nanowire solar NSF Waterman Award. cipient of the MRS Outstanding Young cell. By introducing the novel idea of Investigator Award, has contributed a nanowire-based solar cell, Yang has

MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 36 • OCTOBER 2011 • www.mrs.org/bulletin 813