Madison, Wisc. – Professor Giulia Galli, the Liew Family professor of Electronic Structure and Simulations in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago (UChicago), has been awarded the 2024-2025 Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry.
Professor Galli visited the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and presented talks on September 30, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. and October 1, 2024, at 11 a.m. Professor Galli was then honored at an award banquet on October 1, 2024, where she was be presented with $15,000 in prize funds.
Professor Galli’s stellar career includes prominent positions in both academia and National Laboratories. In addition to her position at UChicago, she holds a Senior Scientist position at Argonne National Laboratory, where she is a group leader and the director of the Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials. Before joining UChicago, she was Professor of Chemistry and Physics at UC Davis (2005-2013) and the head of the Quantum Simulations group at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL, 1998-2005). She holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the International School of Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Science, and the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, as well as a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Materials Research Society Theory Award, the American Physical Society David Adler Award in Materials Physics, the Rahman Prize for Computational Physics, the Feynman Nanotechnology Prize in Theory, the medal of the Schola Physica Romana and the Tomassoni-Chisesi award by La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. She is an expert in the development of theoretical and computational methods to predict and engineer material and molecular properties from first principles. Her research focuses on problems relevant to the development of sustainable energy sources and quantum technologies.
“Giulia has made significant contributions to theoretical chemistry by developing advanced theoretical and computational methods for materials and molecules from first principles”, says Professor and TCI Director Xuhui Huang. “Her methods have been widely applied to predict and design the structural, electronic, and optical properties of materials.”
The Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry, established in 1991, commemorates the life’s work of Prof. Hischfelder as a pioneering member of the theoretical chemistry field. Prof. Hirschfelder had an esteemed career in education, research, and public service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over 40 years. Four Nobel Prize recipients are among the Hirschfelder Prize honorees. Professor Huang noted, “We are delighted to add Professor Galli to this distinguished group of award winners.”
###
Photo Gallery:
