Shaul Mukamel (born 11 December 1948) is a chemist and physicist, currently serving as a Distinguished Professor at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

. He is known for his works in non linear optics and spectroscopy.

Early life and education

Shaul Mukamel was born in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on December 11, 1948. Mukamel received his B.Sc. degree in 1969, with the distinction

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

and his M.Sc. and Ph.D., both

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

, in 1971 and 1976 respectively from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. His Masters supervisor was Uzi Kaldor. He finished his PhD working under

Joshua Jortner Joshua Jortner (; March 14, 1933) is an Israeli physical chemist. He is a professor emeritus at the School of Chemistry, The Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel. Birth and education Jortner was born on Ma ...

. Following graduation, Mukamel served as postdoc at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career

Mukamel has worked at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

before joining

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

, where he worked from 1982 to 2003. He has been at

since then. Mukamel is known for his work in the field of

nonlinear optics Nonlinear optics (NLO) is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in Nonlinearity, nonlinear media, that is, media in which the polarization density P responds non-linearly to the electric field E of the light. The non-linearity ...

, especially the time domain extensions which culminated in the book entitled ''Principles of Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy (1995)''. His works covers topics ranging from

exciton An exciton is a bound state of an electron and an electron hole which are attracted to each other by the electrostatic Coulomb's law, Coulomb force resulting from their opposite charges. It is an electrically neutral quasiparticle regarded as ...

s to multi-dimensional

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

, and femto– and attosecond spectroscopy. During his career, he has published more than 1000 scientific papers. Mukamel has received prizes and distinctions including the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, the Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics, and the Ahmed Zewail ACS Award in Ultrafast Science and Technology.

Awards and honors

*1987 – Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

*1996 –

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

*2003 – Ellis R. Lippincott Award *2011 –

Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy The Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics is a prize that has been awarded annually by the American Physical Society since 1977. The recipient is chosen for "''notable contributions to the field of molecular spectroscopy and ...

*2012 – Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics *2013 – Willis E. Lamb Award *2013 – Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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, and other ...

*2015 – Member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

*2017 – William F. Meggers Award in Spectroscopy *2024 – Raman Lifetime Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukamel, Shaul 1948 births Living people Israeli chemists Rice University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, Irvine faculty Tel Aviv University alumni University of Rochester faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of Optica (society) Humboldt Research Award recipients Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences