Nancy Makri

Nancy Makri
Born (1962-09-05)September 5, 1962
Athens, Greece
Fields Chemical physics, Theoretical chemistry[1]
Institutions Harvard, University of Illinois
Alma mater University of Athens,
University of California at Berkeley
Spouse Martin Gruebele

Nancy Makri (born September 5, 1962)[2] is the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign,[3] where she is the principal investigator of the Makri Research Group for the theoretical understanding of condensed phase quantum dynamics.[4] She studies theoretical quantum dynamics of polyatomic systems,[1] and has developed methods for long-time numerical path integral simulations of quantum dissipative systems.[2]

Early life and education

Nancy Makri was born in Athens, Greece on September 5, 1962.[5] She graduated from the University of Athens in 1985[2][1] with a B.S. in Chemistry, after working with Professor C. A. Nicolaides.[5] She then attended the University of California at Berkeley and received her Ph.D. in 1989[2] under the direction of William H. Miller. Her thesis title was Theoretical methods for the study of chemical dynamics.[6] In 1992 she married physical chemist Martin Gruebele.[2][7]

Career

Makri spent two years as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University, from 1989-1991.[1] She joined the Chemistry faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992. In 1996 she became Associate Professor with tenure, and in 1999, Professor of Chemistry and Physics.[7] She is the principal investigator of the Makri Research Group for the theoretical understanding of condensed phase quantum dynamics,[4] and has co-authored over 100 scientific articles.[8] She is also an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Science and Technology.[9]

Dr. Makri works in the area of theoretical chemical physics. She has developed new theoretical approaches to simulating the dynamics of quantum mechanical phenomena.[7] Makri has developed novel methods for calculating numerically exact path integrals for the simulation of system dynamics in harmonic dissipative environments.[8] Her simulation algorithms address the limitations of the Schrödinger equation, which can only describe physical changes exactly in the quantum state of small molecules.[10][11] By identifying aspects of simulations which can be effectively simplified, Dr. Makri's group have developed "the first fully quantum mechanical methodology for calculating the evolution of a quantum system in a dissipative environment by performing an iterative decomposition of Feynman’s path integral expression."[12] Such simplifications make it possible to calculate outcomes that otherwise would not be mathematically feasible.[11] Her careful examinations of the system-harmonic bath model have resulted in techniques for avoiding the Monte Carlo sign problem.[13][8]

The ability to model proton and electron transfer reactions has been successfully applied to biological systems such as the quantum simulation of electron transfer in bacterial photosynthesis,[14][15] offering "a complete and unambiguous picture of the process".[16][11] More recent work has focused on developing a methodology for forward-backward semiclassical dynamics using classical trajectory calculations. This approach has been used to model the activity of helium in both normal and superfluid phases, examining Bose-statistical effects in relationship to phase transitions.[12][17][8]

Awards

Makri has received a number of awards and honors, including the following:[3][7][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Makri, Nancy". Directory of graduate research. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society. 2001. p. 415.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kalte, Pamela M.; Nemeh, Katherine H. (2005). American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological and Related Sciences. 5 (22nd ed.). Detroit, MI: Thompson/Gale. p. 158. ISBN 978-1414433004.
  3. 1 2 "Nancy Makri". Chemistry at Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 "The Makri Research Group". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Makri, Nancy. "Curriculum Vitae". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  6. ↑ American Doctoral Dissertations, 1989-90. Bell & Howell Information & Lea. 1991. p. 133. ISBN 978-9992393635.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Gutgsell Endowed Professor: Nancy Makri". Office of the Provost. University of Illiinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Nancy Makri". International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (IAQMS). Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Nancy Makri". University of Illinois. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Nancy Makri - 1993". Novel Discoveries: Beckman Young Investigators, 1991-2009. Irvine, CA: Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. 2011. p. 25.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "1999 IOTA SIGMA PI Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award" (PDF). IOTA SIGMA PI. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 "Fellowship Directory Nancy Makri Year: 1993". David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Benderskii, Victor A.; Makarov, Dmitrii E.; Wight, Charles A. (1994). Chemical dynamics at low temperatures. New York, NY: Wiley. pp. 59–61. ISBN 978-0-471-58585-5. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  14. ↑ Dewitt-Morette, Cécile; Cartier, Pierre; Folacci, Antoine (September 30, 1997). Functional Integration: Basics and Applications. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-0306456176. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  15. ↑ Makri, N; Sim, E; Makarov, D E; Topaler, M (April 30, 1996). "Long-time quantum simulation of the primary charge separation in bacterial photosynthesis" (PDF). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93 (9): 3926–3931. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.9.3926. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Makri, Nancy (2008). "Chapter 23 Equilibrium and Dynamical Path Integral Methods in Bacterial Photosynthesis". In Aartsma, Thijs J.; Matysik, Jörg. Biophysical techniques in photosynthesis Volume II. Dordrecht: Springer. pp. 465–485. ISBN 978-1-4020-8249-8.
  17. ↑ Nakayama, A.; Makri, N. (7 March 2005). "Simulation of dynamical properties of normal and superfluid helium". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (12): 4230–4234. doi:10.1073/pnas.0501127102. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "APS Council announces 2001 APS Fellows" (PDF). APS News. American Physical Society. 2002.
  19. ↑ "Greece Awards Top Prize for Young Researchers to NHGRI Bioinformatics Expert". National Human Genome Research Institute. 2000. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  20. ↑ "Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  21. ↑ "Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program" (PDF). Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  22. ↑ "NSF Young Investigator: Theoretical Studies of Quantum Dynamics of Polyatomic Systems". Grantome. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "Beckman Young Investigator Nancy Makri 1993". Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
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