Michael R. Wasielewski

Michael Roman Wasielewski is an American physical chemist. He is currently the Clare Hamilton Hall Professor of Chemistry, Director of the Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT), and Director of the Institute for Quantum Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE) at Northwestern University.

Wasielewski is known for his research on light-driven charge transfer and transport in molecules and materials, photosynthesis, nanoscale materials for solar energy conversion, spin dynamics of multi-spin molecules, molecular materials for optoelectronics and quantum information science, and time-resolved optical and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Education and early life Wasielewski was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, and spent his formative years in close proximity to both the University of Chicago and Chicago's steel making industry. He studied chemistry at University of Chicago under the direction of Leon Stock (B.S. 1971, Ph.D. 1975). His graduate research revealed how the electron-nuclear hyperfine splittings of hydrogen, carbon-13, and fluorine atoms depend on the structure of the paramagnetic molecules. After the completion of his Ph.D., Wasielewski studied antiaromaticity under the direction of Ronald Breslow at Columbia University.

The Wasielewski Group Wasielewski joined Northwestern University in 1994. During his time at Northwestern, Wasielewski has collaborated extensively with his colleagues Mark Ratner, Tobin Marks, Fred Lewis, Fraser Stoddart, and others to study molecular charge transfer and photophysics. Currently, the Wasielewski group is organized into two teams: Solar Energy Conversion Quantum Information Science

Awards and recognition

Andreas Albrecht Lecturer, Cornell University, 2025 Edinburgh Lecturer, Duke University, 2025 Royal Society of Chemistry, Faraday Lectureship Prize, 2022 Hinshelwood Lecturer, University of Oxford, 2022 Visiting Fellow, St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, 2022 Inaugural Guilford Jones Lecturer, Boston University, 2022 Bergman Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, 2021 Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2021 Bruker Prize in EPR Spectroscopy, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021 Josef Michl American Chemical Society Award in Photochemistry, 2020 XingDa Lecturer, Peking University, 2019 Silver Medal in Chemistry, International EPR Society, 2018 Physical Organic Chemistry Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2016 American Institute of Chemists, Chemical Pioneer Award, 2016 Honda-Fujishima Lectureship Award, Japanese Photochemistry Association, 2015 Swiss Chemical Society Lectureship, 2015 Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, 2014 Royal Society of Chemistry Environment Award, 2013 Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2013 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society, 2012 R. Stephen Berry Lecturer, Telluride Science Center, 2010 Frontiers of Chemistry Lecturer, Case Western Reserve University, 2010 Clare Hamilton Hall Endowed Chair, Northwestern University, 2010 Hutchison Lecturer, University of Rochester, 2009 Kaufman Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, 2008 The Porter Medal for Photochemistry, 2008 Eminent Scholar Lecturer, University of Arizona, 2007 James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2006 Closs Lecturer, University of Chicago, 2005 I-APS Photochemistry Research Award, Inter-American Photochemical Society, 2004 Pederson Lecturer, Dupont, Inc., 2003 Weissberger-Williams Lecturer, Eastman Kodak Company, 2001 W. Heinlen Hall Lecturer, Bowling Green State University, 1999 R&D 100 Award (sponsored by R&D Magazine) for work in photorefractivity, 1996 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1995 Holland Research School for Molecular Chemistry Lecturer, 1995 R&D 100 Award (sponsored by R&D Magazine) for work in molecular switches, 1993 Argonne Pacesetter Award, 1993 W. E. Heraeus Foundation Fellow, University of Stuttgart, 1992 Inaugural Lecturer, Center for Photomolecular Sciences, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, 1991 Nodzu Memorial Lecturer, Kyoto University, 1991 University of Chicago Award for Distinguished Performance at Argonne National Laboratory, 1989 Elizabeth R. Norton Prize for Excellence in Research in Chemistry at the University of Chicago, 1975 Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellow, 1972 1974