Richard N. Zare

Richard Neil Zare (born November 19, 1939) is a Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. His professional specialty is physical chemistry. Throughout his career, Zare has made a considerable impact on the field of physical chemistry. He has mentored over 150 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

Education

Zare earned his B.A. in 1961 and his Ph.D. in 1964 in physical and analytical chemistry at Harvard University under the direction of Dudley Herschbach.

Academic career

Zare is well known for his research in laser chemistry, resulting in a greater understanding of chemical reactions at the molecular level. He has also written a widely used textbook on the topic of angular momentum in quantum systems. He is a member of the editorial advisory boards of several scientific publications, among them Chemistry World, Angewandte Chemie, Central European Journal of Chemistry, "Journal of Separation Sciences" and the "Chinese Journal of Chromatography".

Zare is the author of various academic papers involving the research of the spectroscopy of chemical compounds.

Zare has been involved in astrobiology. He is co-author of a paper forwarding the hypothesis that a meteorite from Mars, ALH84001, contained traces of Martian life. Other researchers have questioned these findings and they remain controversial

Zare has been involved in public speaking in his home area of Silicon Valley and around the world.

Awards and Fellowships

• 1974 - Fresenius Award;
• 1976 - Member, National Academy of Sciences;
• 1976 - Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
• 1999 - Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London;
• 1979 - Michael Polanyi Medal;
• 1981 - Earle K. Plyler Prize;
• 1983 - Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh Award;
• 1983 - National Medal of Science
• 1985 - Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics;
• 1986 - Michelson-Morley Award;
• 1990 - Kirkwood Medal;
• 1990 - Willard Gibbs Medal;
• 1991 - Peter Debye Award;
• 1991 - National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences;
• 1991 - Member, American Philosophical Society;
• 1993 - Dannie-Heineman Preis;
• 1993 - The Harvey Prize;
• 1995 - ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Chemical Instrumentation;
• 1996 - The Bing Fellowship Award;
• 1997 - California Scientist of the Year Award;
• 1998 - ACS Award in Analytical Chemistry;
• 1999 - E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy;
• 1999 - Welch Award in Chemistry;
• 1999 - Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London;
• 2000 - Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science;
• 2000 - Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education;
• 2001 - Charles Lathrop Parsons Award;
• 2001 - Faraday Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry;
• 2003 - Laurance and Naomi Carpenter Hoagland Prize;
• 2004 - Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences;
• 2004 - Foreign member Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, P.R.C.;
• 2004 - James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry, Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society;
• 2004 - The ACS (New York Section) Nichols Medal;
• 2005 - Wolf Prize in Chemistry;[9]
• 2005 - named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor;[10][11]
• 2009 - F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the American Chemical Society
• 2009 - BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Science (co-winner with Michael Fisher)
• 2010 - Priestley Medal;[12]
• 2011 - King Faisal International Prize.[13]
• 2012- Recipient of the Reed M. Izatt and James J. Christensen Lectureship.