Dr. Charles T. Campbell is a preeminent physical chemist and former B. Seymour Rabinovitch Endowed Chair in Chemistry at the University of Washington, where he also held adjunct professorships in Chemical Engineering and Physics. After earning his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the same institution in 1979, he joined the University of Washington faculty in 1989 as an Associate Professor of Chemistry. He was promoted to full Professor in 1992 and subsequently held the Lloyd E. and Florence M. West Endowed Professorship from 2004 to 2012 before assuming the prestigious B. Seymour Rabinovitch Endowed Chair. Dr. Campbell demonstrated exceptional leadership by founding the Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Washington in 1997 and serving as its director, while also co-directing the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory-UW Joint Institute for Nanoscience from 2001 to 2006.
Dr. Campbell's pioneering research has profoundly advanced the fields of surface chemistry and catalysis, accumulating over 43,000 citations according to Google Scholar. His laboratory developed groundbreaking instrumentation capable of measuring surface phenomena with unprecedented sensitivity, establishing new methodological standards for interfacial science worldwide. His seminal contributions to determining accurate adsorption energetics and developing key concepts for catalytic reaction analysis have been widely adopted across academic and industrial research settings. Dr. Campbell's work on energy-related and environmental catalysis, interfaces in solar cells and microelectronics, and array-based biochemical analyses has provided fundamental insights that continue to drive innovation in sustainable energy technologies and advanced materials development.
As an exceptional mentor, Dr. Campbell guided the research of 36 PhD students, 11 MS students, and 39 postdoctoral researchers, cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders in physical chemistry and nanoscience. His service to the scientific community extended through editorial leadership as editor of Surface Science from 2002 to 2012 and Surface Science Reports since 2013, significantly shaping the discourse in surface science. Recognized with numerous prestigious honors including the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, election to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and fellowship in multiple professional societies, Dr. Campbell's international reputation was further cemented by the Gauss Professorship and Humboldt Award in Germany. Although now Professor Emeritus, his foundational work continues to influence research directions in surface science and catalysis globally, while his methodological innovations remain essential tools for scientists investigating interfacial phenomena.
