William Esco Moerner (born June 24, 1953) is an American

physical chemist Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

and

chemical physicist Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical proce ...

with current work in the

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

and imaging of single molecules. He is credited with achieving the first optical detection and spectroscopy of a single molecule in

condensed phase Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, th ...

s, along with his postdoc, Lothar Kador. Optical study of single molecules has subsequently become a widely used

single-molecule experiment A single-molecule experiment is an experiment that investigates the properties of individual molecules. Single-molecule studies may be contrasted with measurements on an ensemble or bulk collection of molecules, where the individual behavior of m ...

in chemistry, physics and biology. In 2014, he was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

."Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014." ''Nobelprize.org''
(accessed October 8, 2014).
''Stanford Report'', October 8, 2014 (accessed October 8, 2014). Bacteria-3D-Double-Helix

Early life and education

Moerner was born in

Pleasanton, California Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton wa ...

, in 1953 June 24 the son of Bertha Frances (Robinson) and William Alfred Moerner. He was a boy scout, with the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...

and became an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

. He attended Washington University in St. Louis for undergraduate studies as an Alexander S. Langsdorf Engineering Fellow, and obtained three degrees: a B.S. in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

with Final Honors, a B.S. in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

with Final Honors, and an A.B. in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in 1975.Engineering Alumni Achievement Award, Washington University, 2013
(accessed May 1, 2014). This was followed by graduate study, partially supported by a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Graduate Research Fellowship, 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 ...

in the group of Albert J. Sievers III. Here he received an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree and a Ph.D. degree in physics in 1978 and 1982, respectively. His doctoral thesis was on vibrational relaxation dynamics of an IR-laser-excited molecular impurity mode in alkali halide lattices. Throughout his school years, Moerner was a straight A student from 1963 to 1982, and won both the Dean's Award for Unusually Exceptional Academic Achievement as well as the Ethan A. H. Shepley Award for Outstanding Achievement when he graduated from college.Kan, L., & Lin, S. H. (2011).
Wolf Prize in chemistry : an epitome of chemistry in 20th century and beyond
'. Singapore: World Scientific. p. 556.

Career and work

Moerner worked at the

IBM Almaden Research Center IBM Research is the research and development division for IBM, an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, with operations in over 170 countries. IBM Research is the largest industrial research o ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, as a Research Staff Member from 1981 to 1988, a Manager from 1988 to 1989, and Project Leader from 1989 to 1995. After an appointment as Visiting Guest Professor of Physical Chemistry at

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...

(1993–1994), he assumed the Distinguished Chair in Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

, from 1995 to 1998. In 1997 he was named the Robert Burns Woodward Visiting Professor at

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 ...

. His research group moved to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

in 1998 where he became Professor of Chemistry (1998), Harry S. Mosher Professor (2003), and Professor, by courtesy, of Applied Physics (2005).Stanford University. Department of Chemistry. Faculty. W. E. Moerner.
(accessed May 15, 2014). Moerner was appointed Department Chair for Chemistry from 2011 to 2014.W. E. Moerner , Stanford University Profiles
(accessed May 15, 2014). His current areas of research and interest include: single-molecule spectroscopy and

super-resolution microscopy Super-resolution microscopy is a series of techniques in optical microscopy that allow such images to have resolutions higher than those imposed by the diffraction limit, which is due to the diffraction of light. Super-resolution imaging techni ...

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

chemical physics Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical process ...

, nanoparticle trapping,

nanophotonics Nanophotonics or nano-optics is the study of the behavior of light on the nanometer scale, and of the interaction of nanometer-scale objects with light. It is a branch of optics, optical engineering, electrical engineering, and nanotechnolog ...

, photorefractive polymers, and spectral hole-burning. As of May 2014, Moerner was listed as a faculty advisor in 26 theses written by Stanford graduate students. As of May 16, 2014, there are 386 publications listed in Moerner's full CV.Full CV for W. E. (William Esco) Moerner
(accessed May 15, 2014). Recent editorial and advisory boards Moerner has served on include: Member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), founded at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2000, is located in Bethesda, Maryland. It is one of 27 institutes and centers that are part of NIH, an agency of the U ...

(NIBIB); Advisory Board Member for the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academica Sinica, Taiwan; Advisory Editorial Board Member for Chemical Physics Letters; Advisory Board Member for the Center for Biomedical Imaging at Stanford.; and Chair of the Stanford University Health and Safety Committee.

Awards and honors

Moerner is the recipient of a number of awards and honors. They include: National Winner of the Outstanding Young Professional Award for 1984, from the electrical engineering honorary society,

Eta Kappa Nu Eta Kappa Nu () or IEEE-HKN is the international honor society of the Computer Science and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The organization promotes excellence in the profession and in education through an emphas ...

, April 22, 1985; IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Photon-Gated Spectral Hole-Burning, July 11, 1988; IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Single-Molecule Detection and Spectroscopy, November 22, 1992; Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy,

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 ...

, 2001;

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 ...

, 2008;

Irving Langmuir Award The Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics is awarded annually, in even years by the American Chemical Society and in odd years by the American Physical Society. The award is meant to recognize and encourage outstanding interdisciplinary research ...

in Chemical Physics,

, 2009; Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, 2012;

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 nati ...

in Physical Chemistry,

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 ...

, 2013; the Engineering Alumni Achievement Award, Washington University, 2013; and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2014. Moerner also holds more than a dozen patents. His honorary memberships include Senior Member,

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

, June 17, 1988, and Member,

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 Nat ...

, 2007. He is also a Fellow of the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

, May 28, 1992; the

, November 16, 1992; 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 ...

, 2001; and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, 2004.

Personal life

Moerner was born on June 24, 1953, at Parks Air Force Base in

. From birth, his family called him by his initials W. E. as a way to distinguish him from his father and grandfather who are also named William. He grew up in Texas where he attended Thomas Jefferson High School in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

. He participated in many activities during high school: Band, Speech and Debate, Math and Science Contest Team, Bi-Phy-Chem, Masque and Gavel, National Honor Society, Boy Scouts, Amateur Radio Club, Russian Club, Forum Social Club, Toastmasters, "On the Spot" Team and Editor of Each has Spoken. Moerner and his wife, Sharon, have one son, Daniel.''Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Association - Blog: Mustang Spotlight'' on W. E. Moerner '71
(retrieved September 16, 2013).isad

References

External links

* Chemistry Tree
William E. Moerner Details

W. E. Moerner Laboratory Homepage at Stanford University

W. E. Moerner Profile at Stanford University

Google Scholar Profile for W. E. Moerner

Microsoft Academic Search pagefor W. E. Moerner
* List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis
Description of Moerner's work
Alumni Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moerner, William Esco People from San Antonio Jefferson High School (San Antonio, Texas) alumni Cornell University alumni Stanford University Department of Chemistry faculty 1953 births Living people Washington University in St. Louis alumni Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates Spectroscopists Microscopists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American physical chemists American Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Chemistry Nobel laureates affiliated with Missouri Fellows of the Optical Society Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science American people of German descent People from Los Altos, California Washington University physicists Washington University in St. Louis mathematicians Stanford University faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Chemical physicists