RESEARCH AREAS

Mark A. Ratner

Mark A. Ratner Professor Northwestern University P: 847-491-5652 E: ratner@chem.northwestern.edu Ratner Group B.S., Harvard University, 1964; Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1969

Biographical Sketch

Mark A. Ratner is Morrison Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. He graduated from Harvard University in 1964 with an undergraduate degree in chemistry. He obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University working with G. Ludwig Hofacker, did postdoctoral work in Aarhus and Munich with Jan Linderberg, and taught chemistry at New York University from 1970 until 1974. Later he served as a visiting professor with the National Sciences Research Council at Odense University, Denmark. He served as a department chair at Northwestern University from 1988 until 1991 and as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1980 until 1984. He was nominated to the National Academy of Sciences in 2002. He is a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

Research Statement

The Ratner Group is performing ongoing research in seven major areas of chemistry:

• Nonlinear optical response properties of molecules
• Electron transfer and molecular electronics
• Dynamics of polymer electrolyte transport
• Self-consistent field models for coupled vibration reaction dynamics
• Mean-field models for extended systems, including proteins and molecular assemblies
• Photonics in nanoscale systems
• Energetics of DNA/protein binding

Publications

• "Molecular Rectifiers,” A. Aviram and M. A. Ratner, Chem. Phys. Lett. 29, 277 (1974).
• "Electron conduction in molecular wires. I. A scattering formalism,”
  V. Mujica, M. Kemp and M. A. Ratner, J. Chem. Phys. 101, 6849-6855 (1994).
• "Photoexcited Electron Transfer: Short-Time Dynamics and Turnover Control by Dephasing, Relaxation, and Mixing,” G. Ashkanazi, R. Kosloff, & M. A. Ratner, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121, 3386-3395 (1999).
• “Activated Conduction in Microscopic Molecular Junctions,” D. Segal, A. Nitzan, M. A. Ratner, and W. B. Davis, J. Phys. Chem. B 104, 2790-2793 (2000).

Most Significant Honors & Awards

• Fellow, AAAS (1992)
• Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2001)
• Feynman Award in Nanotechnology (2001)
• Member, National Academy of Science (2002)
• Member, International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (2003)
• Langmuir Award, American Chemical Society (2004)