Alexandra Navrotsky (born 20 June 1943 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is a physical chemist in the field of nanogeoscience. She is an elected member of the

United States 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 Nati ...

(NAS) and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

(APS). She was a board member of the Earth Sciences and Resources division of the NAS from 1995 until 2000. In 2005, she was awarded the Urey Medal, by the European Association of Geochemistry. In 2006, she was awarded the Harry H. Hess Medal, by the American Geophysical Union. She is currently the director of NEAT ORU (Nanomaterials in Environment, Agriculture, and Technology Organized Research Unit), a primary program in nanogeoscience. She was distinguished professor at

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. Dr. Alexandra Navrotsky is currently a reagents professor back at Arizona State University, Tempe AZ. Her research group (TherMotU) investigate a fundamental thermodynamics as it relates to nanomaterials, geology, and material science.

Early life and education

She graduated from

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science is a State school, public Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in the Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science ...

in New York. She received B.S. (1963), M.S. (1964), and Ph.D. (1967) in physical chemistry from

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where she studied with Ole J. Kleppa.

Career and research

In 1967, she went to Germany at the Clausthal University of Technology for postdoctoral work with Hermann Schmalzried. She came back to the U.S. in 1968 and continued her postdoctoral work at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. Then she joined the chemistry faculty at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, for approximately five consecutive years. Later on, she moved to the Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1985. She became the chair of that department from 1988 to 1991. In 1997, she moved to University of California at Davis and became an Interdisciplinary Professor of Ceramic, Earth, and Environmental Materials Chemistry. In 2001, she was chosen as the Edward Roessler Chair in Mathematical and Physical Sciences. From 2013 to 2017, she was interim dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences in the College of Letters and Sciences, at University of California at Davis. She is currently a Regents Professor at

and has directed the Navrotsky-Eyring Center for Materials of the Universe since 2019. Her specializations include:

Solid-state chemistry Solid-state chemistry, also sometimes referred as materials chemistry, is the study of the Chemical synthesis, synthesis, structure, and properties of solid phase materials. It therefore has a strong overlap with solid-state physics, mineralogy, cr ...

, Ceramics, Physics and Chemistry of Minerals,

Geochemistry Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the e ...

Geochemistry

Since 1997, she has built a unique high temperature

calorimetry In chemistry and thermodynamics, calorimetry () is the science or act of measuring changes in '' state variables'' of a body for the purpose of deriving the heat transfer associated with changes of its state due, for example, to chemical reac ...

facility. She has also designed and enhanced the instrumentation. Navrotsky introduced and applied the method for measuring the energetics of

crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...

oxides of glasses, amorphous, nanophase material, porous materials of hydrous phases and

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...

s also more recently

nitride In chemistry, a nitride is a chemical compound of nitrogen. Nitrides can be inorganic or organic, ionic or covalent. The nitride anion, N3−, is very elusive but compounds of nitride are numerous, although rarely naturally occurring. Some nitr ...

s and oxynitrides. Obtaining the thermo chemical data is used to understand the compatibility and reactivity of materials in technological and geological application. The energetics provides insight into chemical bonding, order-disorder reactions, and phase transitions. Navrotsky's calorimetry has also been used in providing thermo chemical data for a variety of

perovskite Perovskite (pronunciation: ) is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate (chemical formula ). Its name is also applied to the class of compounds which have the same type of crystal structure as , known as the perovskite (stru ...

-related phases which has major consequences for

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

and evolution on a planetary scale. One of Navrotsky's works has shown that many zeolitic and mesoporous phases have energies only slightly higher than those of their stable dense polymorphs. The energy is associated with the presence or absence of strained bond angles not with the density.

Nanomaterials

Her research is mainly focused on the structure and the stability of both natural and synthetic

nanomaterials Nanomaterials describe, in principle, chemical substances or materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale). Nanomaterials research takes a materials science ...

along with their dependence of temperature and pressure. She is also looking into the application of nanomaterials in geochemical pollutant transport in the air as it relates to the global climate change.

Awards and honors

*Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1973) * Mineralogical Society of America Award and Fellow (1981) *American Geophysical Union Fellow (1988) *Member, National Academy of Sciences (1993) *President, Mineralogical Society of America (1992–1993) *

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Science and Technology at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(1995) *Ross Coffin Purdy Award, American Ceramic Society Fellow (1995) *Geochemical Society Fellow (1997) *Alexander M. Cruickshank Award, Gordon Research Conference (2000) *Hugh Huffman Memorial Award, The Calorimetry Conference (2000) *Ceramic Educational Council Outstanding Educator Award (2000) *American Ceramic Society Fellow (2001) *American Ceramic Society, Best Paper Award of the Nuclear and Environmental Technology Division (2001) * Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science (2002) *Highly Cited Researchers Award, ISI Thomson Scientific (2002) *Fellow, The Mineralogical Society (Great Britain) (2004) *Urey Medal, European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) (2005) *Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award, American Ceramic Society (ACerS)(2005) *Rossini Award, International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics (IACT)(2006) * Harry H. Hess Medal,

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

(AGU)(2006) * Roebling Medal, Mineralogical Society of America (2009) * W. David Kingery Award, American Ceramic Society (2016)

Publications

* *Her other publications can be found on: https://search.asu.edu/profile/3503975

References

External links

Alexandra Navrotsky's Web SiteMaterial of the Universe Web SiteThermodynamics Consortium Web SiteFORCE Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Navrotsky, Alexandra Living people University of Chicago alumni University of California, Davis faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 21st-century American chemists Fellows of the American Geophysical Union American women chemists Santa Fe Institute people American women geologists American geologists 1943 births Fellows of the American Ceramic Society Arizona State University faculty Inorganic chemists Princeton University faculty Solid state chemists 21st-century American women scientists Recipients of the V. M. Goldschmidt Award Fellows of the Mineralogical Society of America Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates