Two professors and an alumnus from the University of Maryland have been selected as 2016 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates in physics. The Citation Laureates program uses a variety of criteria, including scientific research citations, to identify the most influential researchers who are likely to win the Nobel Prize.

Dr. Richard Remsing, who received his Ph.D. in 2013 in Chemical Physics under the supervision of Distinguished University Professor John Weeks (IPST / Chemistry), has been awarded a Postdoctoral Research Award from the Physical Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. The award cites his research in electron transfer reactions within layered manganese dioxides, with his postdoctoral advisor, Professor Michael Klein (Temple University). Dr. Remsing's Ph.D.

Efrain Rodriguez, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Maryland, received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his proposal titled “Designing Hund’s Metals from Transition Metal Sulfides.” Rodriguez will use the $625,000 award to develop a new class of materials with functional magnetic and electronic properties.

Born in Taiwan, Lung-Wen Chen moved to the United States to complete his Ph.D. in chemical physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he measured airborne particulate pollutants over the East Coast. Since then he has influenced the U.S. EPA to update its measurement methods in all national parks. He also works closely with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop air quality policies in Xi’an, and is collaborating with researchers in Germany to develop a new analytical method for carbonaceous aerosols.