Staff Awards & Honors
October 2006
Lai-Sheng Wang Receives 2006 Humboldt Research Award
Lai-Sheng Wang
Congratulations to Lai-Sheng Wang on winning the Humboldt Research Award for his lifetime of achievements in nanoscience. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation presents up to 100 of these awards annually and invites the recipients to conduct research projects of their choice in Germany for six months to a year.
An Affiliate Chief Scientist in the Fundamental Science Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and a professor of physics at Washington State University-Tri-Cities, Lai-Sheng is a world leader in nanoclusters research. For example, Lai-Sheng and his colleagues created hollow nanoscale cages of gold atoms, the first known metallic equivalent of the buckyball. In addition, he pioneered the study of multiply charged negative ions and began the study of solution molecules in the gas phase.
During his 20 years in research, he has written or co-written more than 240 publications. His work is often featured in top journals, including Science and Nature. He is active in professional societies, including the American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2003, he was named a fellow in the American Physical Society.
His work as a researcher and a professor has been recognized with several important awards, including the Guggenheim fellowship, Washington State University distinguished faculty award, the National Science Foundation creativity award, and the Alfred P. Sloan research fellowship.