Daniel Neumark is a distinguished figure in physical chemistry whose career has spanned over four decades at the forefront of molecular science. He currently serves as a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley where he has been a faculty member since completing his postdoctoral work. Daniel Neumark received both his B.A. and M.A. degrees in chemistry from Harvard University in 1977 before earning his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1984 under Nobel laureate Yuan T. Lee who pioneered crossed molecular beam techniques. Following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado he returned to Berkeley establishing his independent research program that would become internationally recognized. His leadership extended beyond his laboratory as he served as Director of the Chemical Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2000 to 2010 and later as Chair of Berkeley's Chemistry Department from 2010 to 2014.
Professor Neumark is renowned for his pioneering experimental approaches to studying molecular structure and dynamics particularly through the development and application of negative-ion photoelectron spectroscopy. His research group has conducted state-of-the-art experiments mapping potential energy surfaces for chemical reactions and exploring how material properties evolve at the molecular level through cluster spectroscopy. Neumark's work has provided groundbreaking insights into transition state spectroscopy electronic and vibrational properties of clusters and the photodissociation dynamics of reactive free radicals. His laboratory was among the first to apply novel femtosecond and attosecond light sources to probe ultrafast dynamics in the soft x-ray regime significantly advancing the understanding of chemical processes at their fundamental time scales. These methodological innovations have established new paradigms for investigating transient and reactive species that were previously inaccessible to experimental observation.
Neumark's contributions to chemical physics have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the Irving Langmuir Award the Herbert P. Broida Prize and election to the National Academy of Sciences. His leadership in the field extends to editorial roles for major journals including the Journal of Chemical Physics and the Journal of Physical Chemistry where he has shaped scholarly discourse for decades. Known for his enthusiasm and determination, Neumark has mentored generations of scientists many of whom have gone on to establish significant research programs of their own. His current research continues to push boundaries with projects in attosecond spectroscopy studying ultrafast dynamics in helium nanodroplets and investigating the relaxation dynamics of photoexcited nucleobases demonstrating his ongoing commitment to advancing the frontiers of physical chemistry.
