Dr. Vladimir Shalaev is a preeminent leader in nanophotonics and optical metamaterials research, currently serving as the Robert and Anne Burnett Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. He additionally holds professorships in Biomedical Engineering and Physics while directing nanophotonics research at Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center. Born on February 18, 1957, he earned his Master of Science degree in Physics with honors in 1979 and his PhD in Physics and Mathematics in 1983 from Krasnoyarsk State University in Russia. His academic journey began at his alma mater where he joined both the physics faculty and the L.V. Kirensky Institute of Physics, conducting pioneering work in nonlinear optics before receiving the prestigious Humboldt Foundation Fellowship that enabled research in Germany and France.
Dr. Shalaev's transformative research has revolutionized nanoscale light manipulation through his groundbreaking contributions to optical metamaterials and plasmonics. His laboratory pioneered two-dimensional flat metamaterials known as metasurfaces that enable unprecedented control of light phase at single interfaces, leading to innovations such as ultra-thin holograms and record-small circular dichroism spectrometers. His seminal work on negative-refractive-index materials established foundational principles for artificially engineered structures with optical properties unattainable in natural materials, enabling applications from cloaking technology to advanced sensing systems. Among his most notable achievements is the demonstration of the smallest 40-nm nanolaser operating in the visible spectrum, with his research impact quantified by an h-index of 128 and over 72,000 citations as of January 2025 across more than 850 publications including numerous high-impact journal articles.
As a recognized authority in his field, Dr. Shalaev has profoundly shaped global research directions through his mentorship of numerous students and postdoctoral researchers who have established successful careers across academia and industry. He has received multiple prestigious honors including the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America for his pioneering contributions to optical metamaterials, the UNESCO Medal for Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, and the Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics. His election as a Fellow of Optica, the American Physical Society, SPIE, the Materials Research Society, and IEEE underscores his leadership in advancing photonics research worldwide. Dr. Shalaev continues to drive innovation at the forefront of quantum photonics and metamaterials, pursuing next-generation technologies that promise transformative advances in optical computing, sensing, and communication systems.
