 | Mark Johnson |
Mark Johnson, the new Arthur T. Kemp Professor of Chemistry, is renowned for research on the chemistry of water.
Specifically, Johnson and his research team have used molecular spectroscopy and other methods to investigate -- on a microscopic scale -- the behavior of water in an effort to understand why this seemingly simple liquid is the "fluid of life." Recent published studies by Johnson and his colleagues focused on how protons and electrons dissolve in or are held by water molecules. This research was cited among the top 10 areas of discovery in 2004 by the journal Science.
Johnson and his laboratory team specialize in devising experimental approaches to answer questions that have gone unanswered for decades in research using traditional methods. Topics of current interest include the cooperative mechanics that act to split a proton free from a water molecule or a dissolved acid, and proton transfer in aqueous amino acids. Using custom instruments designed and made in the laboratory, Johnson and his colleagues are discovering and capturing images of elementary chemical processes in water. He has co-authored more than 120 articles for scientific publications.
For this work, Johnson recently earned the American Physical Society's (APS) 2006 Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy, which will be awarded at its March meeting.
Johnson earned his B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He was a postdoctoral associate for two years at the University of Colorado at Boulder before beginning his teaching career at Yale in 1985. He was named a full professor in 1993 and served as director of graduate studies in chemistry 2002-2004.
Johnson was honored with the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Distinguished New Faculty Award in 1985 and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award five years later. He was named a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator in 1987 and received a Yale College Junior Faculty Fellowship in 1988. He was elected a fellow of the APS in 1999 and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2005. In 2001 he was named a fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He presently serves as vice-chair of the APS Division of Laser Science. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society.
The Yale chemistry professor has been an invited lecturer at conferences, symposia and other professional meetings at universities and other venues in the United States, Europe and South America. His professional service includes membership on a number of science-related committees, including several associated with the American Physical Society. He is an advisory editor of Chemical Physics Letters.
T H I S
Mark Johnson is designated
the Kemp Professor of Chemistry
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