Shaul Mukamel, an internationally distinguished chemical physicist who uses cutting-edge lasers to probe molecules and cells, will join the UC Irvine faculty as a Chancellor’s Professor of Chemistry.

Mukamel, who is recognized as one of the world’s top researchers in the field of nonlinear laser spectroscopy, comes to UCI from the University of Rochester, where he is the C. E. Mees Professor of Chemistry and Physics & Astronomy. He devises novel techniques for using ultrafast laser pulses to probe and understand the structure and fundamental activities in complex molecules such as proteins, semiconductors and dendrimers. This work is beneficial for emerging nanotechnologies, quantum computing and drug development.

“UCI has a very strong core of research in related areas,� Mukamel said. “It is a dynamic, growing campus with tremendous potential, and I look forward to helping build the university into a leading center for theoretical and experimental work in the optical sciences.�

Mukamel has developed the use of laser spectroscopy to explore the way plants and bacteria harvest light into chemical energy, a process called photosynthesis. Currently, he is working on the application of the attosecond X-ray, which blasts a laser pulse lasting one-quintillionth of a second. These pulses are quick enough to allow researchers for the first time to freeze images of hyperfast electrons and nuclear motions in molecules and other materials.

A native of Israel, Mukamel, 54, received his doctorate in chemistry from Tel-Aviv University in 1976. He recently won of the 2003 Lippincott Award from the Optical Society of America in recognition of outstanding contributions to vibrational spectroscopy. In addition, he has been the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Award and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. In 1997, he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists and was named a Guggenheim Fellow. Mukamel is the author of more than 470 research articles, and his book, “Principles of Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy,� published in 1995, is considered the leading text in its field.

Upon his appointment at UCI, Mukamel received a $1.125 million National Science Foundation grant to lead a research effort with participants from UC Santa Barbara and the University of Chicago to develop nanoengineered materials with controlled optical properties.

The Chancellor’s Professor designation is one of the university’s most prestigious faculty titles. It is given to scholars of international prominence who have the ability to increase the stature of their research field at UCI.