Naomi Halas, PhD, DSc

“Nano is everywhere now, in virtually all disciplines, and has become a foundation that enables us to both envision and conduct research in entirely new ways.”

Naomi Halas is the Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and founding director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University.

Dr. Halas is one of the pioneering researchers in the field of plasmonics and invented the first nanoparticle with tunable plasmonic resonances, which are controlled by their shape and structure. She pursues fundamental studies of coupled plasmonic systems as well as applications of plasmonics in biomedicine, optoelectronics, chemical sensing, photocatalysis, and most recently in solar energy and sustainability, with ‘solar steam’ technology. She has won numerous awards for her pioneering work in the field of nanophotonics and plasmonics.

Dr. Halas is author of more than 300 refereed publications, has more than fifteen issued patents, has presented more than 500 invited talks, and has been cited more than 84,000 times. She co-founded Nanospectra Biosciences, a Houston-based company developing photothermal therapies for cancer and other diseases based on her nanoparticles, currently in multiple clinical trials, and is currently transferring other technologies from her laboratory.

Dr. Halas is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering in 2014, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a recipient of the American Physical Society Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids, the Willis E. Lamb Award, and the Wood Prize of the Optical Society of America. She is a Fellow of OSA, APS, SPIE, IEEE, MRS, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors. She has been a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow of the U.S. Department of Defense and an advisor to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation. She is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of ACS Photonics, Materials Horizons, Chemical Physics Letters and Laser and Photonics Reviews, and an Associate Editor of Nano Letters.