Richard J. Saykally
Encyclopedia
Richard J. Saykally is an American
chemist. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley
. He has received numerous awards and accolades for advanced research on the molecular characteristics of water
.
, Saykally received a B.S. degree in Physical chemistry
from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. 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.
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.
Saykally was listed number 15 on the Science Watch Magazine "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. 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."
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.
Saykally and his research team pioneered IR Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy and the study of small clusters of water molecules.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chemist. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He has received numerous awards and accolades for advanced research on the molecular characteristics of water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
.
Career
Born in Rhinelander, WisconsinRhinelander, Wisconsin
Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 7,735 at the 2000 census.-Claim to fame:...
, Saykally received a B.S. degree in Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He received a Ph. D. degree in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1977. He was an NRC
United States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...
postdoctoral fellow
Postdoctoral researcher
Postdoctoral research is scholarly research conducted by a person who has recently completed doctoral studies, normally within the previous five years. It is intended to further deepen expertise in a specialist subject, including acquiring novel skills and methods...
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
) from 1977-1979.
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.
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 SocietyAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
Harrison Howe Award (1992) - received Royal Society of ChemistryRoyal Society of ChemistryThe Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
Bourke Medal (1992) - received Churchill FellowshipWinston Churchill Memorial TrustThe Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based...
at University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(1995) - received Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (1995)
- named Fellow of American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(1995) - named Fellow of American Physical SocietyAmerican Physical SocietyThe American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
- named Fellow of Optical Society of AmericaOptical Society of AmericaThe Optical Society is a scientific society dedicated to advancing the study of light—optics and photonics—in theory and application, by means of publishing, organizing conferences and exhibitions, partnership with industry, and education. The organization has members in more than 100 countries...
- named Fellow of Royal Society of ChemistryRoyal Society of ChemistryThe Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
- named Member of United States National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(1999) - received Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award (1999)
- received ACS Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical PhysicsIrving Langmuir AwardThe Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics is awarded annually, in even years by the American Chemical Society and in odd years by the American Physical Society. The award is meant to recognize and encourage outstanding interdisciplinary research in chemistry and physics, in the spirit of Irving...
(2000) - received the Royal Society of Chemistry's Centenary Medal (2000)
- received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence AwardErnest Orlando Lawrence AwardThe Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award was established in 1959 in honor of a scientist who helped elevate American physics to the status of world leader in the field....
(2004) - received the Johannes Markus Marci Medal (CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
)(2004) - filled the Morino Lectureship chair (JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
)(2005) - filled the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
Hinshelwood Lectureship chair (2006) - filled the Inaugural Solvay Chair in Chemistry (BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
)(2008) - received the ACS Peter DeBye Award in Physical Chemistry (2009)
Saykally was listed number 15 on the Science Watch Magazine "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. 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."
Saykally participated in the award-winning US PBS television series The Sacred Balance
The Sacred Balance
The Sacred Balance is a book by environmentalist David Suzuki, which is in its second edition as of 2007. The book explores human society's impact on the natural world, both for the planet and the people living on it. Suzuki reveals how dependent humankind is upon the planet's water, soil,...
. The second episode of that series showed Saykally explaining how the structure of the water molecule gives it special properties.
Saykally and his research team pioneered IR Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy and the study of small clusters of water molecules.
Current research interests
As of 2009, Saykally's active research includes:- Tetrahertz laser spectroscopy of clusters
- Synchrotron X-ray spectroscopyX-ray spectroscopyX-ray spectroscopy is a gathering name for several spectroscopic techniques for characterization of materials by using x-ray excitation.-Characteristic X-ray Spectroscopy:...
of liquids and liquid surfaces - Nonlinear chemical imaging of nanoscale matter
- Chemical interactions on liquid surfaces
- Pretending things are plasmas
External links
- Saykally Group Website
- UC Berkeley College of ChemistryUC Berkeley College of ChemistryThe UC Berkeley College of Chemistry is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. It houses the departments of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering and occupies six buildings flanking central plaza. US News and World Report has ranked its chemistry and...
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