William Esco Moerner, also known as W. E. Moerner, (born June 24, 1953) is an American physical chemist and chemical physicist with current work in the biophysics and imaging of single molecules. He is credited with achieving the first optical detection and spectroscopy of a single molecule in condensed phases, along with his postdoc, Lothar Kador.[1][2] Optical study of single molecules has subsequently become a widely used single-molecule experiment in chemistry, physics and biology.[3] In 2014, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[4][5]
Bacteria-3D-Double-Helix.
This image shows 3D super-resolution imaging of Caulobacter crescentus bacteria cell surfaces (gray) and a labeled protein (CreS, orange-red) obtained using the double-helix single-molecule active control microscopy technique.
Early life and education
Moerner was born in Pleasanton, California, in 1953 June 24 the son of Bertha Frances (Robinson) and William Alfred Moerner.[6] He was a boy scout, with the Boy Scouts of America and became an Eagle Scout.[7] He attended Washington University in St. Louis for undergraduate studies as an Alexander S. Langsdorf Engineering Fellow, and obtained three degrees: a B.S. in physics with Final Honors, a B.S. in electrical engineering with Final Honors, and an A.B. in mathematics summa cum laude in 1975.[8] This was followed by graduate study, partially supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, at Cornell University in the group of Albert J. Sievers III.[9] Here he received an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. degree in physics in 1978 and 1982, respectively. His doctoral thesis was on vibrational relaxation dynamics of an IR-laser-excited molecular impurity mode in alkali halide lattices.[10] Throughout his school years, Moerner was a straight A student from 1963 to 1982, and won both the Dean's Award for Unusually Exceptional Academic Achievement as well as the Ethan A. H. Shepley Award for Outstanding Achievement when he graduated from college.[11]
Career and work
Moerner worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, as a research staff member from 1981 to 1988, a manager from 1988 to 1989, and project leader from 1989 to 1995. After an appointment as visiting guest professor of physical chemistry at ETH Zurich (1993–1994), he assumed the distinguished chair in physical chemistry in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego, from 1995 to 1998. In 1997 he was named the Robert Burns Woodward Visiting Professor at Harvard University. His research group moved to Stanford University in 1998, where he became professor of chemistry (1998), Harry S. Mosher Professor (2003), and professor, by courtesy, of applied physics (2005).[11][12][13] Moerner was appointed department chair for chemistry from 2011 to 2014.[14] His current areas of research and interest include: single-molecule spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy, physical chemistry, chemical physics, biophysics, nanoparticle trapping, nanophotonics, photorefractive polymers, and spectral hole-burning.[12][15] As of May 2014, Moerner was listed as a faculty advisor in 26 theses written by Stanford graduate students.[16] As of May 16, 2014, there are 386 publications listed in Moerner's full CV.[17]
Recent editorial and advisory boards Moerner has served on include: member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB);[18] Advisory board member for the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academica Sinica, Taiwan;[19] advisory editorial board member for Chemical Physics Letters;[20] advisory board member for the Center for Biomedical Imaging at Stanford;[21] and chair of Stanford University's health and safety committee.[14]
Awards and honors
Moerner is the recipient of a number of awards and honors. They include: National Winner of the Outstanding Young Professional Award for 1984,[22] from the electrical engineering honorary society, Eta Kappa Nu, April 22, 1985; IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Photon-Gated Spectral Hole-Burning, July 11, 1988;[17] IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Single-Molecule Detection and Spectroscopy, November 22, 1992;[17] Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy, American Physical Society, 2001;[23] Wolf Prize in Chemistry, 2008;[24][25][26] Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics, American Physical Society, 2009;[27][28] Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, 2012;[29] Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2013;[30][31] the Engineering Alumni Achievement Award, Washington University, 2013;[8] and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2014.[4][5] Moerner also holds more than a dozen patents.
His honorary memberships include Senior Member, IEEE, June 17, 1988,[17] and Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2007.[32][33] He is also a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, May 28, 1992;[17][34] the American Physical Society, November 16, 1992;[35] the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2001;[36] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2004.[37]
Personal life
Moerner was born on June 24, 1953, at Parks Air Force Base in Pleasanton, California. From birth, his family called him by his initials W. E. as a way to distinguish him from his father and grandfather who are also named William.[11] He grew up in Texas where he attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. He participated in many activities during high school: Band, Speech and Debate, Math and Science Contest Team, Bi-Phy-Chem, Masque and Gavel, National Honor Society, Boy Scouts, Amateur Radio Club, Russian Club, Forum Social Club, Toastmasters, "On the Spot" Team and Editor of Each has Spoken. Moerner and his wife, Sharon, have one son, Daniel.[38]
References
Reich, Ziv; Kapon, Ruti (8 June 2010). "Foreword by the Guest Editors". Israel Journal of Chemistry. Wiley. 49 (3–4): n/a. doi:10.1002/ijch.201090002. ISSN 0021-2148.
Moerner, W. E.; Kador, L. (22 May 1989). "Optical detection and spectroscopy of single molecules in a solid". Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 62 (21): 2535–2538. Bibcode:1989PhRvL..62.2535M. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.62.2535. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 10040013.
Gräslund, Astrid; Rigler, Rudolf; Widengren, Jerker, eds. (2010). "Single Molecule Spectroscopy in Chemistry, Physics and Biology". Springer Series in Chemical Physics. Vol. 96. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-02597-6. ISBN 978-3-642-02596-9. ISSN 0172-6218.
"Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014." Nobelprize.org (accessed October 8, 2014).
"Professor W.E. Moerner wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry." Stanford Report, October 8, 2014 (accessed October 8, 2014).
Dignitymemorial.com
"Eagle Scout William E. Moerner Shares Nobel Prize in Chemistry". October 15, 2014.
Engineering Alumni Achievement Award, Washington University, 2013 Archived May 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 1, 2014).
Academic Family Tree. Accessed May 9, 2014.
Moerner, W. E. 1982. Vibrational relaxation dynamics of an IR-laser-excited molecular impurity mode in alkali halide lattices. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, Jan. 1982. 591 pages. Worldcat.org
Kan, L., & Lin, S. H. (2011). Wolf Prize in chemistry : an epitome of chemistry in 20th century and beyond. Singapore: World Scientific. p. 556.
Stanford University. Department of Chemistry. Faculty. W. E. Moerner. Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 15, 2014).
"Stanford University. Department of Applied Physics. W. E. Moerner". Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
W. E. Moerner | Stanford University Profiles (accessed May 15, 2014).
Spie (5 March 2015). "William E. Moerner plenary presentation: Single-molecule spectroscopy, imaging, and photocontrol – foundations for super-resolution microscopy". SPIE Newsroom. SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng. doi:10.1117/2.3201503.17. ISSN 1818-2259.
Stanford Searchworks. Accessed May 9, 2014.
Full CV for W. E. (William Esco) Moerner (accessed May 15, 2014).
NIBIB Board of Scientific Counselors Archived 2014-10-13 at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 14, 2014).
Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academica Sinica, Taiwan, Advisory Board (accessed May 14, 2014).
Chemical Physics Letters Editorial Board, Advisory Editorial Board Member (accessed May 14, 2014).
Center for Biomedical Imaging at Stanford. People Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine(accessed May 15, 2014).
Eta Kappa Nu. Outstanding Young Professional Award. Past Award Recipients.(accessed May 1, 2014).
Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy & Dynamics. (accessed May 1, 2014).
The 2008 Wolf Prize in Chemistry (accessed May 1, 2014).
Hayley Rutger. 2008. "Professor William E. Moerner awarded Wolf Prize in Chemistry." Stanford Report, February 6, 2008.
Kan, L., & Lin, S. H. (2011). Wolf Prize in chemistry : an epitome of chemistry in 20th century and beyond. Singapore: World Scientific. pp. 553–577.
2009 Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics Recipient (accessed 1 Mary 2014).
"W.E. Moerner wins chemical physics prize." Stanford Report, October 15, 2008.
Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, 2012 (accessed May 1, 2014).
"ACS 2013 National Award Winners." C&EN 90 (34): 53–54 (August 20, 2012).
ACS Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry (accessed May 1, 2014).
Mark Schwartz and Lisa Trei. 2007. "Five professors among new members elected to National Academy of Sciences." Stanford Report, May 3, 2007.
Nair, P. (9 April 2012). "QnAs with W. E. Moerner". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (17): 6357. Bibcode:2012PNAS..109.6357N. doi:10.1073/pnas.1204426109. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3340104. PMID 22493263.
Optical Society of America. Fellow Members Directory. (Members and registered users may search for current Fellow Members on-line in a directory.) Moerner is listed a Fellow for 1992 (accessed May 14, 2014).
APS Fellows (accessed May 1, 2014).
"Three Stanford professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences." Stanford Report, May 2, 2001.
Mark Shwartz. 2003. "Five professors join the ranks of noted science fellows." Stanford Report, November 5, 2003.
Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Association – Blog: Mustang Spotlight on W. E. Moerner '71 Archived 2021-11-29 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved September 16, 2013).isad
External links
Chemistry Tree: William E. Moerner Details
W. E. Moerner Laboratory Homepage at Stanford University
W. E. Moerner Profile at Stanford University
Google Scholar Profile for W. E. Moerner
Microsoft Academic Search pagefor W. E. Moerner
List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis
Description of Moerner's work: Alumni Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University
William E. Moerner on Nobelprize.org Edit this at Wikidata
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Laureates of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1901–1925
1901: Jacobus van 't Hoff 1902: Emil Fischer 1903: Svante Arrhenius 1904: William Ramsay 1905: Adolf von Baeyer 1906: Henri Moissan 1907: Eduard Buchner 1908: Ernest Rutherford 1909: Wilhelm Ostwald 1910: Otto Wallach 1911: Marie Curie 1912: Victor Grignard / Paul Sabatier 1913: Alfred Werner 1914: Theodore Richards 1915: Richard Willstätter 1916 1917 1918: Fritz Haber 1919 1920: Walther Nernst 1921: Frederick Soddy 1922: Francis Aston 1923: Fritz Pregl 1924 1925: Richard Zsigmondy
1926–1950
1926: Theodor Svedberg 1927: Heinrich Wieland 1928: Adolf Windaus 1929: Arthur Harden / Hans von Euler-Chelpin 1930: Hans Fischer 1931: Carl Bosch / Friedrich Bergius 1932: Irving Langmuir 1933 1934: Harold Urey 1935: Frédéric Joliot-Curie / Irène Joliot-Curie 1936: Peter Debye 1937: Norman Haworth / Paul Karrer 1938: Richard Kuhn 1939: Adolf Butenandt / Leopold Ružička 1940 1941 1942 1943: George de Hevesy 1944: Otto Hahn 1945: Artturi Virtanen 1946: James B. Sumner / John Northrop / Wendell Meredith Stanley 1947: Robert Robinson 1948: Arne Tiselius 1949: William Giauque 1950: Otto Diels / Kurt Alder
1951–1975
1951: Edwin McMillan / Glenn T. Seaborg 1952: Archer Martin / Richard Synge 1953: Hermann Staudinger 1954: Linus Pauling 1955: Vincent du Vigneaud 1956: Cyril Hinshelwood / Nikolay Semyonov 1957: Alexander Todd 1958: Frederick Sanger 1959: Jaroslav Heyrovský 1960: Willard Libby 1961: Melvin Calvin 1962: Max Perutz / John Kendrew 1963: Karl Ziegler / Giulio Natta 1964: Dorothy Hodgkin 1965: Robert Woodward 1966: Robert S. Mulliken 1967: Manfred Eigen / Ronald Norrish / George Porter 1968: Lars Onsager 1969: Derek Barton / Odd Hassel 1970: Luis Federico Leloir 1971: Gerhard Herzberg 1972: Christian B. Anfinsen / Stanford Moore / William Stein 1973: Ernst Otto Fischer / Geoffrey Wilkinson 1974: Paul Flory 1975: John Cornforth / Vladimir Prelog
1976–2000
1976: William Lipscomb 1977: Ilya Prigogine 1978: Peter D. Mitchell 1979: Herbert C. Brown / Georg Wittig 1980: Paul Berg / Walter Gilbert / Frederick Sanger 1981: Kenichi Fukui / Roald Hoffmann 1982: Aaron Klug 1983: Henry Taube 1984: Robert Merrifield 1985: Herbert A. Hauptman / Jerome Karle 1986: Dudley R. Herschbach / Yuan T. Lee / John Polanyi 1987: Donald J. Cram / Jean-Marie Lehn / Charles J. Pedersen 1988: Johann Deisenhofer / Robert Huber / Hartmut Michel 1989: Sidney Altman / Thomas Cech 1990: Elias Corey 1991: Richard R. Ernst 1992: Rudolph A. Marcus 1993: Kary Mullis / Michael Smith 1994: George Olah 1995: Paul J. Crutzen / Mario Molina / F. Sherwood Rowland 1996: Robert Curl / Harold Kroto / Richard Smalley 1997: Paul D. Boyer / John E. Walker / Jens Christian Skou 1998: Walter Kohn / John Pople 1999: Ahmed Zewail 2000: Alan J. Heeger / Alan MacDiarmid / Hideki Shirakawa
2001–present
2001: William Knowles / Ryoji Noyori / K. Barry Sharpless 2002: John B. Fenn / Koichi Tanaka / Kurt Wüthrich 2003: Peter Agre / Roderick MacKinnon 2004: Aaron Ciechanover / Avram Hershko / Irwin Rose 2005: Robert H. Grubbs / Richard R. Schrock / Yves Chauvin 2006: Roger D. Kornberg 2007: Gerhard Ertl 2008: Osamu Shimomura / Martin Chalfie / Roger Y. Tsien 2009: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan / Thomas A. Steitz / Ada E. Yonath 2010: Richard F. Heck / Akira Suzuki / Ei-ichi Negishi 2011: Dan Shechtman 2012: Robert Lefkowitz / Brian Kobilka 2013: Martin Karplus / Michael Levitt / Arieh Warshel 2014: Eric Betzig / Stefan Hell / William E. Moerner 2015: Tomas Lindahl / Paul L. Modrich / Aziz Sancar 2016: Jean-Pierre Sauvage / Fraser Stoddart / Ben Feringa 2017: Jacques Dubochet / Joachim Frank / Richard Henderson 2018: Frances Arnold / Gregory Winter / George Smith 2019: John B. Goodenough / M. Stanley Whittingham / Akira Yoshino 2020: Emmanuelle Charpentier / Jennifer Doudna 2021: David MacMillan / Benjamin List 2022: Carolyn R. Bertozzi / Morten P. Meldal / Karl Barry Sharpless 2023: Moungi G. Bawendi / Louis E. Brus / Alexei I. Ekimov
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