George McClelland Whitesides (born August 3, 1939) is an American chemist and professor of chemistry at Harvard University. He is best known for his work in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, organometallic chemistry, molecular self-assembly, soft lithography, microfabrication, microfluidics, and nanotechnology. A prolific author and patent holder who has received many awards, he received the highest Hirsch index rating of all living chemists in 2011.
Education Whitesides attended secondary school at Phillips Academy and graduated in 1957. He received his A.B. degree from Harvard College in 1960 and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1964, where he worked with John D. Roberts. At Caltech, Whitesides began working in organic chemistry. Whitesides' graduate work in organometallic chemistry used NMR spectroscopy and density matrices to study Grignard reagents. He used NMR spectroscopy to study rate of change of Grignard reagents and the structure of Grignard reagents in solution. He also studied spin–spin coupling in a variety of organic compounds, using density matrix calculations to examine the spin systems that NMR analyses detect.
Career
Research at MIT Whitesides began his independent career as an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963 and remained there until 1982. He continued his work with NMR spectroscopy and organometallic compounds, as well as working with polymers. Collaborations with biologists at MIT were an early influence informing his later work with biological systems. He is credited as having played a "pivotal role" in the development of the Corey–House–Posner–Whitesides reaction.
Research at Harvard In 1982, Whitesides moved back to the Department of Chemistry at Harvard University, his alma mater, taking his laboratory with him. He was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry from 1982 to 2004. At Harvard, Whitesides has served as chairman of the Chemistry Department (1986–89) and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (1989–92).
Current research
In 2004, Whitesides was appointed the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard, one of only 24 University Professorships at the institution as of 2014. The Whitesides Research Group at Harvard, an active research group of graduate and postdoctoral students with a lab space spanning more than 6,000 square feet (560 m2), is cofounded and directed by him. The single primary objective of his lab is "to fundamentally change the paradigms of science." Whitesides' interests include "physical and organic chemistry, materials science, biophysics, complexity and emergence, surface science, microfluidics, optics, self-assembly, micro- and nanotechnology, science for developing economies, molecular electronics, catalysis, energy production and conservation, origin of life, rational drug design, cell-surface biochemistry, simplicity, and infochemistry." He has shifted to new research areas many times throughout his career, averaging about ten years in any particular area. Once other people successfully move into an area, he tends to look for new and more interesting problems to solve. "He has done that repeatedly by asking fundamental questions of what seemed to everyone to be virtually intractable problems," according to Jeremy R. Knowles. Whitesides has made scientific contributions in diverse areas, including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), microfluidics and nanotechnology. He is particularly well known for his work in materials and surface science. His work in surface chemistry has examined the 'self-assembly' processes of molecules arranging themselves on a surface. This work has become a basis for developments in nanoscience, electronics, pharmaceutical science and medical diagnostics. Some of his research has been visually presented through the collaboration On the Surface of Things: Images of the Extraordinary in Science with MIT science photographer Felice Frankel. One image, a pattern of blue and green water droplets created by Frankel, was featured on a 1992 cover of Science. Early work by Ralph G. Nuzzo and David L. Allara on spontaneously organized molecular assemblies informed Whitesides' work on soft lithography. Whitesides and his research group have made significant contributions by developing techniques for soft lithography and microcontact printing. Both microscale and nanoscale techniques are based on printing, molding and embossing, and can be used for the fabrication of patterns and features on many different materials. Soft lithography uses a patterned elastomer as a stamp, mold, or mask to create micropatterns and microstructures. Such techniques have now become standard in the field. More recent research interests include energy, the origin of life, soft robotics, and science for developing economics. Whitesides is also known for publishing his "outline system" for writing scientific papers.
Policy and public service Beyond his scientific research, Whitesides is also active in public service. He was part of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, which authored the National Academies' report Rising Above the Gathering Storm (2007). The report addressed U.S. competitiveness in science and technology. Two key challenges were identified as being essential to American scientific and engineering prowess: 1) creating high-quality jobs for Americans and 2) addressing the nation's need for clean, affordable, and reliable energy. The committee developed four areas of recommendations, with twenty specific proposals for implementable actions. Addressing human, financial, and informational issues, the report argued in favor of:
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