Rate My Professor Shiv Khanna

Shiv Khanna, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), dedicated 39 years to the institution until retiring in September 2023 as Commonwealth Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics. Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Delhi, India, he conducted postdoctoral research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Grenoble, France, served as a scientific collaborator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, and was a visiting associate professor at Northeastern University in Boston before joining VCU in 1984. There, he established a dynamic research group involving postdoctoral associates, graduate, and undergraduate students.

Khanna's pioneering work in Physics centers on atomic clusters, superatoms, cluster assemblies, and nanoscale materials. He introduced the superatom concept, demonstrating that specific clusters mimic periodic table elements' behaviors, opening new avenues in materials science for designing novel nanomaterials with unique properties in electronics, magnetism, catalysis, and energy storage. Notable achievements include discovering aluminum clusters that produce hydrogen from water on demand—reported in Science—and clusters converting CO2 to formic acid. His research, featured in over 200 news outlets, garnered over $24 million in grants from NSF, DOE, ARO, AFOSR, ONR, and NIH, and exceeds 23,000 citations. Key collaborations yielded publications in high-profile journals like Nature Chemistry and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Recognized with the 2013 SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award, VCU's 2010 Distinguished Scholarship Award, and fellowships from the American Physical Society (2007) and American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011), Khanna excelled in teaching by integrating research, mentoring diverse students, and fostering creative thinking.