Rate My Professor Sanford Asher

Sanford Asher served as Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, joining in 1980 as Assistant Professor, advancing to Distinguished Professor in 2006, and retiring as Distinguished Professor Emeritus after 43 years of service. He earned a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Missouri, St. Louis in 1971, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1977, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Applied Physics at Harvard University from 1977 to 1980. He also held an adjunct professorship in chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University and served as co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Materials Research Center. Additionally, he acted as scientific advisor to the Taiwan Association of Raman Spectroscopy and member of the University of Pittsburgh Research Council.

Asher's research program was interdisciplinary, integrating analytical chemistry, biophysical chemistry, materials science, and physical chemistry to address fundamental and applied problems. He pioneered ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy for investigating protein structure, function, folding kinetics, and excited states in aqueous solutions, as well as gas-phase reactions in diamond CVD reactors. His developments included photonic crystal sensors using polymerized crystalline colloidal arrays for glucose monitoring in tear fluid, pH, ionic strength, carbohydrate, and explosive detection, alongside nonlinear optical materials and UV Raman hyperspectral imaging. These technologies supported applications in military safety, NASA's Perseverance rover for Mars exploration, and commercial materials. With over 34,000 citations, key publications encompass "Polymerized colloidal crystal hydrogel films as intelligent chemical sensing materials" (Nature, 1997), "Thermally switchable periodicities and diffraction from mesoscopically ordered materials" (Science, 1996), "Photonic crystal chemical sensors: pH and ionic strength" (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000), "Photonic crystal glucose-sensing material for noninvasive monitoring of glucose in tear fluid" (Clin. Chem., 2004), and recent works like "Ultraviolet Raman Wide-Field Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometer for Standoff Trace Explosive Detection" (Appl. Spectrosc., 2017). His honors include the 2018 ICORS Raman Lifetime Award, 2016 Society for Applied Spectroscopy Honorary Membership and SACP Award, 2015 FACSS Charles Mann Award, 2011 Charles E. Kaufman Award, 2008 Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, 2002 Ellis R. Lippincott Award, 1996 Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award, and 1994 ACS Spectrochemical Analysis Award. Sanford Asher passed away on January 16, 2026.