Nancy Makri

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]

Nancy Makri
Born(1962-09-05)September 5, 1962
Athens, Greece
Alma materUniversity of Athens,
University of California at Berkeley
Spouse(s)Martin Gruebele
Scientific career
FieldsChemical physics, Theoretical chemistry[1]
InstitutionsHarvard, University of Illinois

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]

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]

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References
  1. "Makri, Nancy". Directory of graduate research. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society. 2001. p. 415.
  2. 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. "Nancy Makri". Chemistry at Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  4. "The Makri Research Group". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. 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. "Gutgsell Endowed Professor: Nancy Makri". Office of the Provost. University of Illiinois at Urbana-Champaign. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  8. "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. "1999 IOTA SIGMA PI Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award" (PDF). IOTA SIGMA PI. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  12. "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". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93 (9): 3926–3931. Bibcode:1996PNAS...93.3926M. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.9.3926. PMC 39461. PMID 8632991.
  16. Makri, Nancy (2008). "Chapter 23 Equilibrium and Dynamical Path Integral Methods in Bacterial Photosynthesis". In Aartsma, Thijs J.; Matysik, Jörg (eds.). 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. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.4230N. doi:10.1073/pnas.0501127102. PMC 555495. PMID 15753309.
  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). Archived from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  21. "Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program" (PDF). Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  22. Makri, Nancy. "NSF Young Investigator: Theoretical Studies of Quantum Dynamics of Polyatomic Systems". Grantome. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  23. "Nancy Makri". Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
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