Dr. Vladimir Agranovich’s contributions to theories about subatomic quasiparticles have netted him a fellowship in the American Physical Society (APS).
New fellowships are limited annually to only 0.5 percent of the APS membership. Fellows are nominated based on the excellence of their research. Agranovich, a faculty research scientist in the Chemistry Department, was praised for his work on:
- Excitons, the particles that emit light in semiconductors.
- Polaritons, which comprise elements of electromagnetic waves and excited states of matter.
“This is a long-overdue recognition of a truly great scientist and a warm, humorous and caring individual,” said Dr. John Ferraris, department head of chemistry in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “Vladimir brings honor to our department and to the University.”
Agranovich collaborates with researchers in the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute and has pioneered highly efficient light-emitting devices based on nanotechnology. Resulting technologies are showing promise, including advancements in the newest generation of solar cells, which are Agranovich’s primary research focus.
“I published some theoretical papers on the optical properties of metamaterials – exotic composite materials – a field that is now developing rapidly,” Agranovich said. “I’m happy to have helped advance some avenues of chemistry and physics and to be elected a Fellow of APS.”
Agranovich’s newest fellowship marks his second such honor. He was previously elected a fellow of the Institute of Physics. He obtained his MS and PhD degrees in physics at Kiev State University.
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Dr. Vladimir Agranovich collaborates with researchers in the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute and has pioneered highly efficient light-emitting devices based on nanotechnology. |
Congratulations from colleagues:
“I think I’ve known Vladimir Agranovich as long as just about anyone in the U.S. In 1960-61, a mere 48 years ago, I spent a year in the then Soviet Union on a graduate exchange program, studying at Moscow State University. … It was clear to a graduate student then [in 1961], and became clearer still as I became a theoretical chemist, that Agranovich was a scientist of great physical insight. He bridges effortlessly chemistry and physics, solid state theory and electromagnetic properties, organic and inorganic materials. His contributions have continued unabated, from his general theory of the collective properties of excitons, to second-harmonic generation in inorganic-organic materials (a field that is developing beautifully now, with Agranovich’s theoretical ideas serving as a framework) to his recent theory of nonlinear propagation in negative refraction media.”
— Dr. Roald Hoffmann
1981 Nobel Prize in chemistry,
Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor Emeritus
of Humane Letters at
Cornell University