Stephen Robert Leone (born May 19, 1948) is an American physical chemist and the John R. Thomas Endowed Chair in Physical Chemistry at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Early life and education

Leone was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on May 19, 1948, of Italian descent. The family moved to

Rochester, New Hampshire Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,492 at the 2020 census. In addition to the downtown area, the city contains the villages of East Rochester, New Hampshire, East Rochester, Gonic, New Ha ...

, and later

Batavia, Illinois Batavia () is a city mainly in Kane County and partly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in the Chicago metropolitan area, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

, where Stephen attended primary and secondary school. Leone earned a bachelor's degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and spent a summer working at

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...

prior to attending the

for graduate study. In 1974, Leone began teaching at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, and later moved to

JILA JILA, formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, is a physical science research institute in the United States. JILA is located on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. JILA was founded in 1962 as a joint institute of ...

, a research institute at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

. Leone returned to Berkeley in 2002. He was

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the ''

Annual Review of Physical Chemistry ''Annual Review of Physical Chemistry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews. It covers all topics pertaining to physical chemistry. The editors are Mark A. Johnson (Yale University) and Todd J. Martínez ( Stanfo ...

'' from 2002–2011, retiring as editor in 2011; and is credited for organizing the volumes for 2012–2013.

Awards and honors

Over the course of his career, Leone has received the

ACS Award in Pure Chemistry The American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry is awarded annually by the American Chemical Society (ACS) "to recognize and encourage fundamental research in pure chemistry carried out in North America by young men and women." "Young" me ...

(1982) and

Peter Debye Award The Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry is awarded annually by the American Chemical Society "to encourage and reward outstanding research in physical chemistry". The award is named after Peter Debye and granted without regard to age or natio ...

(2005) from the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) 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 155,000 members at all d ...

, the

Bourke Award The Bourke Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry is an annual prize open to academics from outside the UK. Originally established by the Faraday Society and known as the Bourke Lectures, the award of £2000 enables experts in physical chemistry or ...

(1995) and

Polanyi Medal The Polanyi Medal is a biennial award of the Royal Society of Chemistry for outstanding contributions to the field of gas kinetics. The medal is presented at the International Symposium on Gas Kinetics after a plenary lecture given by the prize win ...

(2010) from the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

and the Herbert P. Broida Prize (1989) of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, among several others. He has been awarded Sloan and Guggenheim fellowships, and was elected a member of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1995.

References

1948 births Living people 20th-century American chemists 21st-century American chemists University of California, Berkeley alumni UC Berkeley College of Chemistry faculty Northwestern University alumni People from Queens, New York Scientists from New York City People from Batavia, Illinois People from Rochester, New Hampshire Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Sloan Research Fellows American people of Italian descent Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff University of Colorado Boulder faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society Annual Reviews (publisher) editors {{US-chemist-stub