William E. Moerner is a preeminent physical chemist whose pioneering research in single-molecule imaging has transformed the capabilities of optical microscopy. Born on June 24, 1953, at Parks Air Force Base in Pleasanton, California, he was raised in San Antonio, Texas, and earned three undergraduate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in 1975, including B.S. in physics, B.S. in electrical engineering, and A.B. in mathematics summa cum laude. He completed his graduate studies at Cornell University under Albert J. Sievers, receiving his M.S. in 1978 and Ph.D. in physics in 1982, with his doctoral thesis focusing on vibrational relaxation dynamics. Moerner established his early career at IBM Almaden Research Center from 1981 to 1995, serving as a research staff member (1981–1988), manager (1988–1989), and project leader (1989–1995), before serving as Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego from 1995 to 1998.
Moerner's groundbreaking contributions to science center on his development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, for which he was jointly awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Eric Betzig and Stefan Hell. His seminal work demonstrated for the first time that single molecules could be optically imaged at room temperature, overcoming the century-old diffraction limit that had constrained conventional light microscopy. By developing methods to precisely control the fluorescence of individual molecules through light activation, he enabled the creation of high-resolution images by combining sequential activation of different molecular subsets. This revolutionary technique allows researchers to track biological processes within living cells at the molecular level with unprecedented detail, providing transformative insights into cellular mechanisms that were previously invisible to optical microscopy.
Throughout his distinguished career, Moerner has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, with 26 doctoral theses completed under his supervision at Stanford University as of 2014. He has served on prestigious advisory boards including the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences at Academica Sinica, while contributing to editorial boards for journals such as Chemical Physics Letters. His current research continues to push the boundaries of single-molecule spectroscopy, super-resolution microscopy, and nanoparticle trapping techniques, with applications spanning biophysics, chemical physics, and materials science. Moerner's enduring scientific legacy not only earned him the highest honor in chemistry but continues to catalyze advancements across multiple disciplines, demonstrating the profound impact of his interdisciplinary approach to scientific discovery.
