Mark C. Hersam is a professor of Chemistry and Materials Science Engineering at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

(2000–present) who, according to the

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 ...

, has made "major breakthrough National Science Foundation
/ref> in the field of nanotechnology. He is a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award and a 1996 Marshall Scholar. He is also an Associate Editor of ''ACS Nano''. As of January 2022, he was cited over 54,500 times according to

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes ...

Education and early academic work

Education

Mark Hersam attended Downers Grove South High School in Downers Grove, IL where he was Valedictorian and an Eagle Scout. He then went on to receive his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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 Univ ...

in 1996. Upon winning the

Marshall Scholarship The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

, Hersam received a M.Phil. in Microelectronic Engineering and Semiconductor Physics from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1997. His Ph.D was granted from the Electrical Engineering Department at the

in 2000.

Early work

While at UIUC, Hersam did research under Professor David Ruzic in the Nuclear Engineering Department and Professor Joseph Lyding in the Electrical Engineering Department. After graduating from UIUC, Hersam was an intern at the Argonne National Laboratory where he did research in the Energy Technology Division studying the energy-related applications of surface acoustic-wave-based sensing. While at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, Hersam was advised by

Mark Welland Sir Mark Edward Welland, (born 18 October 1955) is a British physicist who is a professor of nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge and head of the Nanoscience Centre. He has been a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, since 1986 and ...

and the two co-authored the paper "Potentiometry and repair of electrically stressed nanowires using atomic force microscopy" in the journal of

Applied Physics Letters ''Applied Physics Letters'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by the American Institute of Physics. Its focus is rapid publication and dissemination of new experimental and theoretical papers regarding applications ...

. As a doctoral candidate, Hersam again worked with Professor Joseph Lyding at the Beckman Institute where they studied "atomic level manipulation and silicon-based molecular nanotechnology."

Research

As head of the Hersam Group at

, Hersam has authored more than 137 peer-reviewed publications studying hybrid hard and soft nanoscale materials for applications in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and alternative energy.

Corporate connections and applications

*Co-Founder of NanoIntegris *Intern at IBM Nanoscience

Honors and achievements

Honors

* Teacher of the Year in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering,

2003, 2007, 2009, 2010 *

Materials Research Society The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit, professional organization for materials researchers, scientists and engineers. Established in 1973, MRS is a member-driven organization of approximately 14,000 materials researchers from academi ...

Outstanding Young Investigator Award, 2010 * SES Research Young Investigator Award, Electrochemical Society, 2010 * Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2009 * Young Alumni Achievement Award, ECE Department, UIUC, 2007 * AVS Peter Mark Memorial Award, 2006 * TMS Robert Lansing Hardy Award, 2006 *

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...

, 2005 * Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2005 * Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, 2005 *

Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

,Northwestern University Bio
/ref> 2005 *

Associated Student Government Faculty Honor Roll,AVS Profile
2004 *

CAREER Award, 2002 * Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation,

Beckman Young Investigators Award The Beckman Young Investigators Award was established by Mabel and Arnold Beckman in 1991, and is now administered by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program is intended to provide research support to p ...

, 2001 * Gregory Stillman Semiconductor Research Award, 2000 *

American Vacuum Society AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and ProcessingAIP: A Federation of the Physical Sciences

Graduate Research Award, 1999

Scholarships

* Searle Center for Teaching Excellence Junior Fellow, 2001 * IBM Distinguished Fellowship, 1999 * Koehler Graduate Fellowship, 1998 * National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1997 * British Marshall Scholarship, 1996

Professional organizations and societies

* Co-Chair of the NSF International Study of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, 2009- * AVS Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Division Executive Board Member, 2003-2005, 2007-2009 * Review of Scientific Instruments Editorial Board Member, 2001-2003 * Nanopatterning Synergistic Research Group Leader, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, 2001- * Director of the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center Research Experience for Undergraduates, 2001- * National Science Foundation SBIR, IMR/MRI, MRSEC and NUE Panelist * Member of IEEE, MRS, AVS, AIP, APS, ACS, TMS, ASEE, AAAS In 2016, he was selected as a U.S. Science Envoy by the

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

Selected works

* 2006 -Sorting carbon nanotubes by electronic structure using density differentiation, MS Arnold, AA Green, JF Hulvat, SI Stupp, MC Hersam, Nature nanotechnology 1 (1), 60-65 * 2014 - Emerging device applications for semiconducting two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, D Jariwala, VK Sangwan, LJ Lauhon, TJ Marks, MC Hersam, ACS nano 8 (2), 1102-1120 * 2015 - Synthesis of borophenes: Anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphs, AJ Mannix, XF Zhou, B Kiraly, JD Wood, D Alducin, BD Myers, X Liu, Science 350 (6267), 1513-1516

Personal life

Hersam hosts Undergraduate Research Experience opportunityNorthwestern University REU Program
/ref> for students each summer.

References

External links

Hersam Group
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hersam, Mark 1975 births Living people MacArthur Fellows American nanotechnologists People from Downers Grove, Illinois Grainger College of Engineering alumni Marshall Scholars Alumni of the University of Cambridge Northwestern University faculty