Nano Letters‘ Founding Editor-in-Chief A. Paul Alivisatos can now add a new line to his CV: executive vice chancellor and provost of UC Berkeley. His new role is the university’s second highest position, combining day-to-day operational responsibilities with the duty of representing the school’s faculty and developing its academic programs. Prior to accepting this new […]

Nano Letters‘ Founding Editor-in-Chief A. Paul Alivisatos can now add a new line to his CV: executive vice chancellor and provost of UC Berkeley. His new role is the university’s second highest position, combining day-to-day operational responsibilities with the duty of representing the school’s faculty and developing its academic programs.

Prior to accepting this new postion, Alivisatos served as the university’s vice chancellor for research. Before that, he led the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for seven years. He is currently the Samsung Distinguished Professor of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in the departments of chemistry and materials science, as well as the founding director of the Kavli Energy Nanoscience Institute, and a senior faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab. Alivisatos received his Ph.D. from the univesity in 1986 and has been a professor of chemistry there since 1988.

“I have been at Berkeley for about 30 years now, and I feel gratitude to Berkeley for everything it has given to me. I am excited about the opportunity to work closely with Carol as the new chancellor as she is defining a vision for the campus,” Alivisatos said in a release from the university. “For me, it is really about coming into a role where I can help guide the campus into an exciting period where the future of public higher education and research and discovery are promoted and enhanced. I am thrilled.”

Alivisatos has led Nano Letters since the journal’s launch in 2001. His research focuses on structural and chemical transformations of nanocrystals. Some of his major awards include the Dan David Prize, the Linus Pauling Medal, and the National Medal of Science. Outside of academia, he is a co-founder of the nanocrystal submicroscopic tracer company Quantum Dot Corp., which is now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Want the latest stories delivered to your inbox each month?