George Chappell Schatz (born April 14, 1949), the Morrison Professor of Chemistry at

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 ...

, is a

theoretical chemist Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface ...

best known for his seminal contributions to the fields of

reaction dynamics Reaction dynamics is a field within physical chemistry, studying why chemical reactions occur, how to predict their behavior, and how to control them. It is closely related to chemical kinetics, but is concerned with individual chemical events on ...

and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

Early life and career

Born in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

and raised in

Sackets Harbor, New York Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who ...

, he obtained his B. S. in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enr ...

in 1971. At Clarkson, he was mentored by organic chemistry professor Richard Partsch, who encouraged him to spend a summer working at

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...

in 1971. He went on to earn a Ph.D. from

Caltech 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 ...

in 1976 under Aron Kuppermann. While working on his doctorate, he took classes taught by

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...

quantum electrodynamics In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and spec ...

and

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

. Following postdoctoral work at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

under John Ross, he joined the chemistry department at

. Schatz is a member of the

Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit or CaSTL Center is a National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation. The CaSTL Center was established through a cooperative agreement between the National Science Foundation and the Univers ...

. To date he has co-authored over 1000 scientific papers and co-authored two books with his colleague

Mark A. Ratner Mark A. Ratner (born December 8, 1942) is an American chemist and professor emeritus at Northwestern University whose work focuses on the interplay between molecular structure and molecular properties. He is widely credited as the "father of mo ...

: ''Introduction to Quantum Mechanics in Chemistry'' and ''Quantum Mechanics in Chemistry.'' Recently much of Schatz's research has been concerned with

and

bionanotechnology Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blan ...

. His work has collectively received over 130,000 citations, including a 2003 article on the optical properties of nanoparticles which has been cited more than 12,000 times. A longtime senior editor of the ''

Journal of Physical Chemistry ''The Journal of Physical Chemistry A'' is a scientific journal which reports research on the chemistry of molecules - including their dynamics, spectroscopy, kinetics, structure, bonding, and quantum chemistry. It is published weekly by the Amer ...

'', he became its editor-in-chief in 2005. The journal previously (1997) having been split in ''

Journal of Physical Chemistry A ''The Journal of Physical Chemistry A'' is a scientific journal which reports research on the chemistry of molecules - including their dynamics, spectroscopy, kinetics, structure, bonding, and quantum chemistry. It is published weekly by the ...

'' (molecular physical chemistry, both theoretical and experimental) and ''

Journal of Physical Chemistry B ''The Journal of Physical Chemistry B'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers research on several fields of material chemistry (macromolecules, soft matter, and surfactants) as well as statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and bi ...

'' (solid state, soft matter, liquids), Schatz initiated the spin-off of a third journal, ''

Journal of Physical Chemistry C A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'', focusing on

and

molecular electronics Molecular electronics is the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components. It is an interdisciplinary area that spans physics, chemistry, and materials science. The unifying feature is use of mo ...

Awards and honors

Schatz is a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of American Physic ...

(1987) and a member of the

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 ...

(2007) and the

International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science The International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (IAQMS) is an international scientific learned society covering all applications of quantum theory to chemistry and chemical physics. It was created in Menton in 1967. The founding members wer ...

. Schatz has won the Ahmed Zewail Prize award of the journal

Chemical Physics Letters ''Chemical Physics Letters'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in chemical physics and physical chemistry. It was established in 1967 and is published by Elsevier. The editors-in-chief are David C. Clary David ...

for "outstanding contributions to the theory and understanding of gas-phase reaction dynamics, plasmonics, and nanostructured materials". The biennial prize was developed by Elsevier to honor Nobel laureate

Ahmed Zewail Ahmed Hassan Zewail ( ar, أحمد حسن زويل, ; February 26, 1946 – August 2, 2016) was an Egyptian-American chemist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry ...

, who was a longtime editor of the journal.

References

External links

Official home page at Northwestern University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schatz, George C. 1949 births Living people Northwestern University faculty American physical chemists Theoretical chemists Members of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society