Illinois Chemistry and Physics Professor Nancy Makri has been selected for the 2023 Award in Theoretical Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Sponsored by the ACS Division of Physical Chemistry, the award is presented annually in recognition of innovative research in theoretical chemistry that either advances theoretical methodology or contributes to new discoveries about chemical systems.
Makri and her research group develop new theoretical quantum dynamics descriptions and numerical simulation methods to elucidate quantum mechanical processes in large molecules and the condensed phase. Makri is especially noted for developing real-time path integral algorithms that address the computational limitations of the Schrödinger equation. Her current work focuses on the effects of electron-vibration interaction on charge and energy transfer.
Makri has served her scientific community through several editorial appointments at scholarly journals, including Physical Review Letters, the Journal of Computational Chemistry, the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, The Journal of Chemical Physics, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, and the International Journal of Molecular Science.
Makri is the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Chair at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is a member of the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Institute and an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
Makri is the recipient of many awards, including the Beckman Research Award, the Sloan Research Fellowship, the Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and the Bodossaki Academic Prize in Physical Sciences. She is a medalist and a member of the International Academy for Quantum Molecular Science, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Makri received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Athens in 1985 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California Berkeley in 1989. She was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University, prior to joining the faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1992 .