Allen Joseph Bard (born December 18, 1933) is an American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. He is the Hackerman-Welch Regents Chair Professor and director of the Center for Electrochemistry at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Bard is considered a "father of modern electrochemistry" for his innovative work developing the scanning electrochemical microscope, his co-discovery of

electrochemiluminescence Electrochemiluminescence or electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) is a kind of luminescence produced during electrochemical reactions in solutions. In electrogenerated chemiluminescence, electrochemically generated intermediates undergo a highl ...

, his key contributions to

photoelectrochemistry Photoelectrochemistry is a subfield of study within physical chemistry concerned with the interaction of light with electrochemical systems. It is an active domain of investigation. One of the pioneers of this field of electrochemistry was the Ge ...

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way ...

electrodes An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials dep ...

, and co-authoring a seminal textbook.

Early life and education

Allen J. Bard was born in New York City on December 18, 1933. He attended the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

and graduated from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1955. He then attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, where he earned a Masters (1956) and a PhD (1958).

Research and career

In 1958, Bard began working at the

and has continued there for his entire career. However, he took a sabbatical in 1973 and worked in the lab of

Jean-Michel Savéant Jean-Michel Savéant (19 September 1933 – 16 August 2020) was a French chemist who specialized in electrochemistry. He was elected member of the French Academy of Sciences in 2000 and foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences i ...

. He also spent a semester at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

as a Sherman Mills Fairchild Scholar. He lectured at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

for the spring term in 1987 as a Baker Lecturer. In 1988 he served as the Robert Burns Woodward visiting professor at Harvard University. Bard has published more than 1000 peer-reviewed research papers, 88 book chapters and other publications, and has more than 30 patents. He has written three books: ''Chemical Equilibrium; Electrochemical Methods – Fundamentals and Applications,'' and ''Integrated Chemical Systems: A Chemical Approach to Nanotechnology.'' The title, ''Electrochemical Methods – Fundamentals and Applications'', is the defining text on

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an out ...

in English, and generally referred to as just "Bard." He was the chief editor of the ''

Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ''Journal of Analyti ...

''. The Center for Electrochemistry was founded in 2006 in order to create a cooperative and collaborative group between the different types of concentrations in electrochemistry. Bard and his group were one of the original researchers to take advantage of electrochemistry to create light. The creation of light produced a sensitive method of analysis that can now be applied to a wide variety of biological and medical uses, including determining if an individual has an HIV and analyzing DNA. The Bard group also "applies electrochemical methods to the study of chemical problems, conducting investigations in electro-organic chemistry, photoelectrochemistry, electrogenerated chemiluminescence, and electroanalytical chemistry."

Awards and honors

Among Bard's awards are the

Priestley Medal The Priestley Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry. Established in 1922, the award is named after Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen ...

in 2002 and the 2008

Wolf Prize in Chemistry The Wolf Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics and Arts ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1990. On February 1, 2013, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

presented Allen Bard with a

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

for Chemistry, alongside fellow UT-Austin academic John Goodenough who received the corresponding award for engineering. "I am proud to honor these inspiring American innovators," Obama said. "They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this nation great – and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment." On January 13, 2014, Allen Bard was awarded the Enrico Fermi Award along with

Andrew Sessler Andrew Marienhoff Sessler (December 11, 1928 – April 17, 2014) was an American physicist, academic (University of California, Berkeley), former director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1973–1980), humanitarian and former ...

. In 2019 he received the

King Faisal International Prize The King Faisal Prize ( ar, جائزة الملك فيصل, formerly King Faisal International Prize), is an annual award sponsored by King Faisal Foundation presented to "dedicated men and women whose contributions make a positive difference". T ...

in Chemistry.

The Electrochemical Society The Electrochemical Society is a learned society ( professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of electrochemistry and solid-state science and related technology. The Society membership compr ...

established the Allen J. Bard Award in 2013 to recognize distinguished contributions to electrochemical science. He was awarded the ACS Fisher Award in Analytical Chemistry in 1984 and the Charles N. Reilley Award in 1984. He was granted the Eastern Analytical Symposium Award in 1990.

Personal life

Bard was married to Fran Bard until her death in August 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bard, Allen J. 1933 births Living people 21st-century American chemists The Bronx High School of Science alumni City College of New York alumni Harvard University alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists from New York City Academic journal editors