His innovative research uses lasers to investigate the dynamics of chemical reactions, study the spectroscopy of small molecules, and determine trace amounts of materials. This work spans a range of systems, including gas-phase reactions, processes on surfaces, and biological macromolecules. His numerous prizes and honors include election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, an honorary degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich, the Pauling Award, the Gibbs Medal, and the Harvey Prize. Professor Zare is active in issues concerning national science policy and presently serves as a member of the National Science Board and as Chair of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications of the National Research Council. This lecture is for a general audience.
All lectures are open to the public.
As lasers became available to chemists, however, their uses have grown at such a pace that no major chemistry department is without more than one such device. In the area of chemical analysis impressive advances have been made in research labs, but the full impact of lasers on analytical instrumentation still awaits the commercial development of lasers that are cheap, reliable, compact, and deliver many possible wavelengths. Many hope that diode laser systems will soon overcome these limitations. In the brief time allotted for this talk only a few highlights in laser chemical analysis can be described, such as the use of lasers in single-molecule fluorescence detection, and the use of lasers to enable unprecedented levels of sensitivity to be achieved in the new separation technique of capillary electrophoresis. The Fred J. Robbins Lectureship Pomona College takes great pleasure in presenting the Robbins Lectures for 1995, thirty-fourth in the series established by Mr. Robbins to bring to Pomona College distinguished chemists to discuss their current research.