Richard Van Duyne ’67 Tapped by
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock, and other scholar-patriots “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.” The current membership of over 4,500 includes more than 150 Nobel laureates and 50 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Van Duyne is also the recipient of the 2004 Earl K. Plyler Prize in Molecular Spectroscopy presented by the American Physical Society. He is best known for his discovery of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and is the developer of nanosphere lithography (NSL).

Van Duyne says he owes a debt of gratitude to his professors at Rensselaer, including his undergraduate research adviser David Aikens, who, he says, “was an inspiring and supportive mentor who played an enormous role in my scientific development. Were it not for David Aikens and several other terrific RPI chemistry faculty members, in particular, Professors Herbert Richtol and H.B. Hollinger, I doubt that the achievements mentioned here would have occurred.”

Van Duyne received his B.S. in chemistry from Rensselaer and his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.