Lai-Sheng Wang, physics professor at Washington State University Tri-Cities with a joint appointment at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been named a 2005 Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Wang carries out his research at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at PNNL. PNNL, located in
Wang won the award for his studies of atomic clusters and multiply charged anions. The Guggenheim Foundation awards grants to advanced professionals with “significant performance records.” The purpose of the grant, according to the foundation, is to “help provide fellows with blocks of time in which they can work with as much creative freedom as possible. Grants are made freely. No special conditions attach to them, and fellows may spend their grant funds in any manner they deem necessary to their work.” Wang’s award is for $37,000 and will begin in October 2005.
“The work that I plan to focus on during the fellowship is to study small boron clusters and to develop a low temperature electrospray photoelectron spectroscopy instrument,” said Wang. “The boron cluster work will be done in collaboration with professor Manfred M. Kappes’ group at the
Wang said there are many research groups in Europe, Asia and
Wang joined WSU/PNNL in 1993. He is a world leader in the field of nanoclusters. His ground-breaking research involves surprising advances. His research team created the first all-metal aromatic molecules and discovered unexpected properties of extremely small particles of gold and boron. He also pioneered the study of multiply charged anions and created a research field of studying solution molecules in the gas phase. Wang has won numerous awards, including the 2005 Distinguished Faculty Award from the
The Guggenheim fellowship program covers a diverse range of scholarships in 79 different fields, from the natural sciences to the creative arts. Guggenheim fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.