Steven Chu

Steven Chu is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and Professor of Energy Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He earned an A.B. degree in mathematics and a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Rochester in 1970 and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1976. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley, Chu joined Bell Laboratories in 1978 as a member of the technical staff and advanced to department head in 1983. He subsequently held the position of Theodore and Francis Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University, where he helped establish Bio-X, an interdisciplinary initiative integrating physical sciences, biology, engineering, and medicine.

From 2004 to 2009, Chu served as director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Professor of Physics and Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He then acted as the U.S. Secretary of Energy from January 2009 to April 2013 under President Barack Obama, initiating programs such as ARPA-E, Energy Innovation Hubs, and Clean Energy Ministerial meetings while recruiting leading scientists to the Department of Energy. Renowned for pioneering laser cooling and optical trapping of atoms, Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for these developments. His innovations encompass atomic fountain clocks, atom interferometers, optical tweezers for biomolecules, and single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer techniques. Current research interests include biophysics, molecular and cellular physiology, medical imaging, nanoparticle synthesis, battery research, and carbon capture. Notable publications feature "Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy future" (Nature, 2012), "Observation of a single-beam gradient force optical trap for dielectric particles" (1986), and recent advances in lithium extraction from seawater (Joule, 2020) and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (Nature Nanotechnology, 2020). Chu holds memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and several foreign academies, along with 35 honorary degrees.

Professional Email: schu@stanford.edu