Steven Chu
[''Chu, Steven'' was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1986 for his contributions](_blank)
in atomic physics
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...
and laser spectroscopy, including the first observation of parity non-conservation in atoms, excitation and precision spectroscopy of positronium, and the optical confinement and cooling of atoms. (born February 28, 1948) is an American
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
and former government official. He is a Nobel laureate and was the 12th
United States Secretary of Energy. He is currently the
William R. Kenan Jr.
William Rand Kenan Jr. (April 30, 1872 – July 28, 1965) was an American chemist, engineer, manufacturer, dairy farmer, and philanthropist.
Early life
William Rand Kenan Jr. was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 30, 1872., son of Willi ...
Professor of
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 ...
and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at
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 ...
. He is known for his research at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, and his research at
Bell Laboratories
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...
and
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 ...
regarding the
cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, for which he shared the 1997
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, 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 " ...
with
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and
William Daniel Phillips.
Chu served as
United States Secretary of Energy under the administration of President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
from 2009 to 2013. At the time of his appointment as Energy Secretary, Chu was a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, and the director of the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...
, where his research was concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the
single molecule level.
Chu resigned as energy secretary on April 22, 2013.
He returned to Stanford as Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology.
Chu is a vocal advocate for more research into
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
and
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
, arguing that a shift away from
fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
s is essential to combating
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
.
[Sarah Jane Tribble]
'Nuclear: Dark horse energy alternative,'
Oakland Tribune, 2007-06-18. He has conceived of a global "glucose economy", a form of a
low-carbon economy
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the ...
, in which
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...
from tropical plants is shipped around like
oil is today.
On February 22, 2019, Chu began a one-year term as president of 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 ...
.
Early life and education
Chu was born on 28 February 1948 in
St. Louis,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
,
with Chinese ancestry from
Liuhe,
Taicang
Taicang is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The city located in the south of the Yangtze River estuary opposite Nantong, being bordered by Shanghai proper to the south, while the river also deli ...
, China, and went to
Garden City High School.
He received both a
B.A. 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 ...
and 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 ...
in 1970 from the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
The University of ...
, and earned his
Ph.D. in physics from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, under
Eugene D. Commins, in 1976,
during which he was 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.
Chu comes from a family of highly educated
white collar professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...
s and scholars. His father,
Ju-Chin Chu, earned a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...
from
MIT and taught at
Washington University in St. Louis and
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and his mother studied
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
at MIT. His maternal grandfather,
Shu-tian Li, a
hydraulic engineer who earned a Ph.D. from
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 ...
and a professor and president of Tianjin University. His mother's uncle,
Li Shu-hua, a
biophysicist
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. Bi ...
, attended
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
before returning to China.
Chu's older brother,
Gilbert Chu, is a professor of
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
and
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
at
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 ...
. His younger brother,
Morgan Chu, is a
patent lawyer who is the former co-managing partner at the
law firm Irell & Manella
Irell & Manella LLP is an American law firm founded in 1941 by lawyers Lawrence E. Irell (1912–2000) and Arthur Manella (1917–1997). It has approximately 70 lawyers (down from a high of over 220), and placed 183rd on The American Lawyer's 202 ...
.
According to Chu, his two brothers and four cousins have four Ph.D.s, three
M.D.s, and a
J.D. among them.
Career and research
After obtaining his doctorate he remained at Berkeley as a
postdoctoral researcher for two years before joining
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mul ...
, where he and his several co-workers carried out his Nobel Prize-winning
laser cooling
Laser cooling includes a number of techniques in which atoms, molecules, and small mechanical systems are cooled, often approaching temperatures near absolute zero. Laser cooling techniques rely on the fact that when an object (usually an atom) ...
work. He left Bell Labs and became a professor of physics at
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 1987,
serving as the chair of its Physics Department from 1990 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2001. At Stanford, Chu and three others initiated the Bio-X program, which focuses on interdisciplinary research in biology and medicine,
and played a key role in securing the funding for the
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology.
In August 2004, Chu was appointed as the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a
U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory, and joined UC Berkeley's Department of Physics and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.
Under Chu's leadership, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was a center of research into
biofuel
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration ...
s and
solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essen ...
.
He spearheaded the laboratory's Helios project, an initiative to develop methods of harnessing solar power as a source of
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
for transportation.
Chu's early research focused on
atomic physics
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...
by developing
laser cooling
Laser cooling includes a number of techniques in which atoms, molecules, and small mechanical systems are cooled, often approaching temperatures near absolute zero. Laser cooling techniques rely on the fact that when an object (usually an atom) ...
techniques and the
magneto-optical trap
A magneto-optical trap (MOT) is an apparatus which uses laser cooling and a spatially-varying magnetic field to create a trap which can produce samples of cold, trapped, neutral atoms. Temperatures achieved in a MOT can be as low as several microk ...
ping of atoms using
lasers. He and his co-workers at Bell Labs developed a way to cool atoms by employing six laser beams opposed in pairs and arranged in three directions at right angles to each other. Trapping atoms with this method allows scientists to study individual atoms with great accuracy. Additionally, the technique can be used to construct an
atomic clock
An atomic clock is a clock that measures time by monitoring the resonant frequency of atoms. It is based on atoms having different energy levels. Electron states in an atom are associated with different energy levels, and in transitions betwe ...
with great precision.
At Stanford, Chu's research interests expanded into
biological physics and
polymer physics at the
single-molecule level. He studied
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...
activity and
protein and RNA folding using techniques like
fluorescence resonance energy transfer
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy ...
,
atomic force microscopy, and
optical tweezers. His
polymer physics research used individual
DNA molecules to study polymer dynamics and their
phase transitions. He continued researching atomic physics as well and developed new methods of laser cooling and trapping.
, he is the President of the Scientific Committee of
ESPCI Paris.
Honors and awards
Steven Chu was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, 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 " ...
in 1997 for the "development of methods to
cool and trap atoms with laser light", together with
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and
William Daniel Phillips.
He is a member of the
U.S. 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 Natio ...
, 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 ...
, the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences ( it, Pontificia accademia delle scienze, la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum) is a scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mat ...
and the
Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging fro ...
of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
, and is a foreign member of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences and the
Korean Academy of Science and Engineering.
He was also awarded the
Humboldt Prize by the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1995. In 1998, Chu received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement.
Chu received an honorary doctorate from
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
when he was the keynote speaker at the 2007 commencement exercises. He is a Senior Fellow of the
Design Futures Council
The Design Futures Council is an interdisciplinary network of design, product, and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges, and opportunities to advance innovation and shape the future of the industry and environment. Members inclu ...
. ''Diablo Magazine'' awarded him an Eco Award in its April 2009 issue, shortly after he was nominated for Energy Secretary.
Washington University in St. Louis and
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 ...
awarded him honorary doctorates during their 2010 and 2009 commencement exercises, respectively. He was awarded an honorary degree from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
during its 2010 commencement. He was also awarded an honorary degree from the
Polytechnic Institute of New York University, the same institution at which his father taught for several years, during its 2011 commencement.
Penn State University awarded him an honorary doctorate during their 2012 commencement exercises.
In 2014, Chu was awarded an honorary doctorate from
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...
, during which he gave a talk moderated by Williams College Professor Protik Majumder.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
during its 2015 commencement. Chu was also awarded an honorary doctorate from
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...
in 2017, where he later gave a lecture titled "Climate Change and Needed Technical Solutions for a Sustainable Future" in March 2018.
Chu was elected an international fellow of the
Royal Academy of Engineering UK in 2011, and a
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2014. His nomination reads:
U.S. Secretary of Energy
His nomination to be Secretary of Energy was unanimously confirmed by the
U.S. Senate on January 20, 2009.
On January 21, 2009, Chu was sworn in as Secretary of Energy in the
Barack Obama administration. Chu is the first person appointed to the U.S. Cabinet after having won a Nobel Prize.
He is also the second Chinese American to be a member of the U.S.
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
, after former
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.
His scientific work continued, however, and he even published a paper on
gravitational redshift in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' in February 2010 and another one he co-authored in July 2010.
In March 2011 Chu said that regulators at the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began opera ...
should not delay approving construction licenses for planned U.S. nuclear power plants in the wake of the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
.
In August 2011 Chu praised an advisory panel report on curbing the environmental risks of
natural-gas development. Chu responded to the panel's report on
hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling method that is enabling a U.S. gas boom while bringing fears of groundwater contamination. The report called for better data collection of air and water data, as well as "rigorous" air pollution standards and mandatory disclosure of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process. Chu said that he would "be working closely with my colleagues in the Administration to review the recommendations and to chart a path for continued development of this vital energy resource in a safe manner".
Chu faced controversy for a statement he made prior to being appointed, claiming in a September 2008 interview with the Wall Street Journal that "somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." However, in March 2012 he retracted this comment, saying "since I walked in the door as secretary of Energy I've been doing everything in my powers to do what we can to … reduce those prices" and that he "no longer shares the view
.
On February 12, 2013, Chu was the
designated survivor during the
State of the Union address.
On February 1, 2013, Chu announced his intent to resign.
In his resignation announcement, he warned of the
risks of climate change from continued reliance on
fossil fuels
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
, and wrote, "the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with ...
did not end because we ran out of stones; we transitioned to better solutions". He resigned on April 22, 2013.
Energy and climate change
Chu has been a vocal advocate for more research into
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
and
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
, arguing that a shift away from
fossil fuels
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
is essential to
combat climate change and
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
.
He also spoke at the 2009 and 2011
National Science Bowl
The National Science Bowl (NSB) is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition, using a quiz bowl format, held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an an ...
about the importance of America's science students, emphasizing their future role in
environmental planning
Environmental planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to ac ...
and global initiative. Chu said that a typical
coal power
A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a t ...
plant emits 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant.
Chu warns that
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
could wipe out California farms within the century.
He joined the
Copenhagen Climate Council, an international collaboration between business and science established to create momentum for the
2009 UN Climate Change Conference
The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 and 18 December. The conference included the 15th session of the Conference of the Parti ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
.
In 2015, Chu signed the ''
Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change'' on the final day of the 65th
Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The declaration was signed by a total of 76 Nobel Laureates and handed to then-President of the French Republic,
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...
, as part of the successful
COP21 climate summit in Paris.
Chu was instrumental in submitting a winning bid for the
Energy Biosciences Institute
The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) is an organization dedicated to developing new sources of energy and reducing the impact of energy consumption. It was created in 2007 to apply advanced knowledge of biology to the challenges of responsible, ...
, a
BP-funded $500 million multidisciplinary collaboration between UC Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, and the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...
. This sparked controversy on the Berkeley campus, where some fear the alliance could harm the school's reputation for academic integrity.
Based partially on his research at UC Berkeley, Chu has speculated that a global "glucose economy", a form of a
low-carbon economy
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the ...
, could replace the current system. In the future, special varieties of high-
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...
plants would be grown in the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also refer ...
, processed, and then the chemical would be shipped around like
oil is today to other countries. ''The
St. Petersburg Times'' has stated that Chu's concept "shows vision on the scale needed to deal with global warming".
[
Chu has also advocated making the roofs of buildings and the tops of roads around the world white or other light colors, which may reflect sunlight back into space and mitigate global warming. The effect would be, according to Chu, similar to taking every car in the world off the roads for about 11 years.] Samuel Thernstrom, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and co-director of its Geoengineering Project, expressed support for the idea in '' The American'', praising Chu for "do ngthe nation a service" with the concept. Chu is on the board of directors of Xyleco
Xyleco is a privately held scientific research and manufacturing company in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Xyleco is developing a process to convert biomass into useful products, including cellulosic ethanol. The board of directors includes Steven Chu ...
, a company developing alternate energy.
Personal life
In 1997, he married Jean Fetter, a British-American Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
-trained physicist. He has two sons, Geoffrey and Michael, from a previous marriage to Lisa Chu-Thielbar.
Chu is interested in sports such as baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
, swimming, and cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...
. He taught himself tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
—by reading a book—in the eighth grade, and was a second-string substitute for the school team for three years. He also taught himself how to pole vault
Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...
using bamboo poles obtained from the local carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester ...
store. Chu said he never learned to speak Chinese because his parents always spoke to their children in English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
.
In popular culture
Chu's Wikipedia article has been featured in the webcomic xkcd. He has also been satirised as a no-nonsense Secretary of Energy in a cutaway gag in season 11 of the American animated comedy show Family Guy.
See also
* United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States ...
* Timeline of low-temperature technology
* Energy policy of the United States
* University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
The University of ...
* List of Nobel Laureates affiliated with the University of Rochester
References
External links
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
at United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States ...
*
Bio
from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...
*
BP Makes Berkeley World Center for Biofuels
press release on the BP collaboration February 16, 2007
*
Alternative Energy Sources
March 28, 2005, Chu's PowerPoint presentation
Boulder’s physicists give Chu thumbs-up
Article on other Nobel laureates' reactions to Chu as Secretary of Energy
UCTV Programs with Steven Chu
*
Physics Meets Biology
*
Berkeley's Nobel Tradition
*
Holding on to Atoms and Molecules with Lasers: Laser Cooling – From Atomic Clocks to Watching Biomolecules Move
*
What Can Physics Say About Life?
*
Conversations with History: A Scientist's Random Walk, with Steven Chu
an
from 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 ...
Department of Physics
*
Steven Chu: Uncovering the secret life of molecules
from ''Stanford nlineReport'' (July 16, 1997)
Chu's biophysics research group
at University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
*
Growing energy: Berkeley Lab's Steve Chu on what termite guts have to do with global warming
from ''UC Berkeley News'' (September 30, 2005)
* March 12, 2008
Interview with Steve Chu at ''Copenhagen Climate Council'', November 3, 2008.
*
*
*
*
*
*
April 19, 2009
"Weird Little Bacteria" in Our Energy Future
by Steven Chu on April 16, 2012 Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Steven
1948 births
21st-century American physicists
21st-century American politicians
American Nobel laureates
American politicians of Chinese descent
American science writers
American writers of Chinese descent
Chinese-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
Climate activists
Experimental physicists
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Fellows of the Optical Society
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Garden City High School (New York) alumni
Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Physics
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Living people
Members of Academia Sinica
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Missouri Democrats
Asian-American people in Missouri politics
Nobel laureates affiliated with Missouri
Nobel laureates in Physics
Obama administration cabinet members
Optical physicists
People from Garden City, New York
Physicists from Missouri
Politicians from St. Louis
Scientists at Bell Labs
Scientists from Missouri
Scientists from New York (state)
Scientists from St. Louis
Stanford University Department of Physics faculty
Sustainability advocates
United States Secretaries of Energy
UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
University of Rochester alumni
Writers from St. Louis
Members of the American Philosophical Society