Martin Moskovits is a distinguished Physical Chemist renowned for his pioneering contributions to spectroscopy and nanotechnology. Born in Brăila, Romania on April 13, 1943, he emigrated to Canada with his family in 1953, settling in Toronto where he completed his secondary education at Harbord Collegiate Institute. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1965, during which time he co-founded OHM Distributors and Manufacturers Ltd., an electronics company in Toronto, in 1966, which was sold in 1969. After completing his PhD in Chemical Physics at the University of Toronto in 1971, he held positions at Alcan Research and Development before returning to the University of Toronto as a faculty member, where he was promoted to Professor in 1982 and served as Chair of the Chemistry Department from 1993 to 1999.
Professor Moskovits is celebrated for his groundbreaking research on surface plasmons and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, discoveries that emerged during his doctoral work on the optical properties of thin metal films. His investigations into the optical anomalies produced by submicroscopic metal surface roughness laid the foundation for significant advances in molecular sensing technologies. He has authored approximately 220 technical papers, edited three books, and holds ten patents, demonstrating his prolific contribution to the scientific literature. His research has catalyzed numerous applications in nanoelectronics and molecular detection, leading him to co-found Spectra Fluidics in 2008, a company that combines surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with microfluidics to develop high-sensitivity sensing platforms. His work has received widespread recognition, with over 240 invitations to speak at international conferences and extensive mentorship of the next generation of scientists.
A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Optical Society of America, and the Royal Society of Canada, Moskovits has significantly shaped his field through leadership and collaboration. He served as Dean of Science at UC Santa Barbara from 2000 and held executive positions including Chief Technology Officer of API Technologies and Provost at the City College of New York. His distinguished career has been honored with prestigious awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Spectroscopy Society of Canada in 1993, and the Ellis R. Lippincott Award from the Optical Society of America. Having mentored over sixty graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who now hold positions in industry, government, and academia, his influence extends far beyond his own research contributions. As a former member and Vice Chair of the US Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, he continues to provide critical guidance that shapes national research priorities in physical sciences.
