Mark Christopher Hersam (born January 31, 1975) is a professor of Chemistry and Materials Science Engineering at
Northwestern University (2000–present) who, according to the
National Science Foundation, has made "major breakthrough[s]" [1] in the field of nanotechnology. He is a 2014 recipient of the
MacArthur "Genius" Award and a 1996
Marshall Scholar.[2] He is also an Executive Editor of ACS Nano. As of October 2023, he has been cited over 68,000 times according to
Google Scholar.[3]
While at UIUC, Hersam did research[7] under Professor David Ruzic[8] in the Nuclear Engineering Department and Professor Joseph Lyding[9] in the Electrical Engineering Department.
After graduating from UIUC, Hersam was an intern at the
Argonne National Laboratory where he did research in the Energy Technology Division studying the energy-related applications of surface acoustic-wave-based sensing.
While at
Cambridge University, Hersam was advised by
Mark Welland and the two co-authored the paper "Potentiometry and repair of electrically stressed nanowires using atomic force microscopy"[10] in the journal of
Applied Physics Letters.
As a doctoral candidate, Hersam again worked with Professor Joseph Lyding at the
Beckman Institute where they studied "atomic level manipulation and silicon-based molecular nanotechnology."[11]
Research
As head of the Hersam Group at
Northwestern University,[12] Hersam has authored more than 137 peer-reviewed publications[13] studying hybrid hard and soft nanoscale materials[14] for applications in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and alternative energy.
2006 -Sorting carbon nanotubes by electronic structure using density differentiation, MS Arnold, AA Green, JF Hulvat, SI Stupp, MC Hersam, Nature nanotechnology 1 (1), 60-65[35]
2014 - Emerging device applications for semiconducting two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, D Jariwala, VK Sangwan, LJ Lauhon, TJ Marks, MC Hersam, ACS nano 8 (2), 1102-1120[36]
2015 - Synthesis of borophenes: Anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphs, AJ Mannix, XF Zhou, B Kiraly, JD Wood, D Alducin, BD Myers, X Liu, Science 350 (6267), 1513-1516[37]
Personal life
Hersam hosts Undergraduate Research Experience opportunity[33] for students each summer.