Todd Martinez
Encyclopedia
Todd J. Martínez is a David Mulvane Ehrsam and Edward Curtis Franklin Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University
and a Professor of Photon Science at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He received his B.S . from Calvin College
in 1989 and his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1994. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the Fritz Haber Institute for Molecular Dynamics at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel
and a University of California Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA for two years prior to joining the faculty at the University of Illinois
in 1996. He was named a Gutgsell Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois in 2006. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2009.
Professor Martínez is a theoretical chemist whose research focuses primarily on developing first-principles approaches to chemical reaction dynamics, starting from the fundamental equations of quantum mechanics
. He is particularly interested in electronically excited states and the response of molecules to light. Reactions of electronically excited molecules often involve conical intersection
s, around which the potential energy surfaces have the shape of intersecting cones. He developed a method known as ab initio multiple spawning
, or AIMS, which predicts the dynamic evolution of systems having conical intersections. He has created models for photoinduced isomerization in retinal
, which represents the biophysical basis for vision. He has also shown how videogame hardware, especially graphical processing units (GPUs), can be used to accelerate quantum chemistry simulations.
Martínez's research has been supported by an NSF
Career Award, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
, a Packard Foundation Fellowship, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, a Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award, a Research Innovation Award, a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and grants from the NSF
, DOE
, NIH, Research Corporation, and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2011.
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and a Professor of Photon Science at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He received his B.S . from Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
in 1989 and his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1994. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the Fritz Haber Institute for Molecular Dynamics at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and a University of California Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA for two years prior to joining the faculty at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1996. He was named a Gutgsell Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois in 2006. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2009.
Professor Martínez is a theoretical chemist whose research focuses primarily on developing first-principles approaches to chemical reaction dynamics, starting from the fundamental equations of quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
. He is particularly interested in electronically excited states and the response of molecules to light. Reactions of electronically excited molecules often involve conical intersection
Conical intersection
In quantum chemistry, a conical intersection of two potential energy surfaces of the same spatial and spin symmetries is the set of molecular geometry points where the two potential energy surfaces are degenerate . Conical intersections are ubiquitous in both trivial and non-trivial chemical...
s, around which the potential energy surfaces have the shape of intersecting cones. He developed a method known as ab initio multiple spawning
Ab initio multiple spawning
The ab initio multiple spawning, or AIMS, method is a time-dependent formulation of quantum chemistry.In AIMS, nuclear dynamics and electronic structure problems are solved simultaneously...
, or AIMS, which predicts the dynamic evolution of systems having conical intersections. He has created models for photoinduced isomerization in retinal
Retinal
Retinal, also called retinaldehyde or vitamin A aldehyde, is one of the many forms of vitamin A . Retinal is a polyene chromophore, and bound to proteins called opsins, is the chemical basis of animal vision...
, which represents the biophysical basis for vision. He has also shown how videogame hardware, especially graphical processing units (GPUs), can be used to accelerate quantum chemistry simulations.
Martínez's research has been supported by an NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
Career Award, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
, a Packard Foundation Fellowship, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, a Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award, a Research Innovation Award, a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and grants from the NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, DOE
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, NIH, Research Corporation, and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2011.
Representative publications
- Insights for Light-Driven Molecular Devices from Ab Initio Multiple Spawning Dynamics, T. J. Martinez, Acc. Chem. Res., 39, 119 (2006). DOI: 10.1021/ar040202q
- Competitive Decay at Two and Three-State Conical Intersections in Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer, J. D. Coe and T. J. Martinez, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 127, 4560 (2005). DOI: 10.1021/ja043093j
- Conical Intersection Dynamics in Solution: The Chromophore of Green Fluorescent Protein, A. Toniolo, S. Olsen, L. Manohar, and T. J. Martínez, Faraday Disc., 127, 149 (2004). DOI: 10.1039/b401167h