George Schatz '71 A life in science

George Schatz '71

George Schatz, Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, was recently elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Membership in the Academy is one of the highest honors afforded a scientist or engineer. His election to the Academy is the latest milestone in a highly distinguished career that has spanned nearly three decades.

Chemist George Schatz '71 (Cm), Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, is a prolific and influential researcher whose resume includes some of the highest awards and recognitions from his peers in the scientific community.

George is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society. This year he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, whose exclusive roster includes only 1,976 active members.

A faculty member at Northwestern since 1976, George has devoted much of his career to utilizing theory and computation to describe physical phenomena in a broad range of applications relevant to chemistry, physics, biology and engineering.

His current interests center around nanotechnology, in particular the optical and chemical properties of silver and gold nanoparticles (tiny particles measuring 10 to 100 billionths of a meter). "These particles play a two-part role in biological sensing applications," he explains. "They first bind to the biomolecule of interest, typically protein or DNA. After attachment, the particle's optical property (the color it reflects) reveals the biomolecule's presence. The research is exciting because of its many potential applications in medical diagnosis."

According to George, nanoparticle-based tests advance the study of diseases that can be diagnosed through the detection of certain DNA or protein "markers" such as HIV and cancer. While other technologies can sense these markers, George points out that the nanoparticle-based systems have clear advantages. "The existing technology can only detect above some minimum concentration. The nanoparticle-based methods are capable of pushing down two to three orders of magnitude below what's currently possible, and that opens up a whole new realm of biomolecules to study." Additionally, while current diagnostic methods often involve expensive equipment, nanoparticle-based systems could someday be affordable enough to perform in your own home.

My first experience with nanoparticles came when I took freshman chemistry from Egon Matijević at Clarkson in 1967.

Recent discoveries, including new ways of making nanoparticles; new techniques for attaching them to proteins, enzymes and other molecules; and new methods for studying their optical and chemical properties made it possible for George and his colleagues at Northwestern to make great advances in applying nanotechnology to biological sensing. In 1990 his group solved the basic equations of electricity and magnetism that determine the optical properties of the particles for nonspherical shapes. It was a discovery that became "the driving force for using gold and silver particles in biomolecule detection."

Rather than mixing together chemicals on the lab bench, George works on understanding the physics underlying the optical and chemical properties of the silver and gold particles. While his collaborators make the sensors, George develops theories that guide in the development of new discoveries. "A good day in my office," he says, "is when I come up with a new idea for making or arranging the particles or for attaching molecules to the particles that will make better sensors than we already have."

George admits that nanotechnology was a topic that didn't immediately resonate with him. "My first experience with nanoparticles came when I took freshman chemistry from Egon Matijević at Clarkson in 1967. He and Milton Kerker had been studying the properties of colloids since before I was born (literally!) and they tried their best to convey to me the excitement of research in this field." George was more interested in computers, which were just becoming a "big deal" in chemistry. He studied theoretical and computational chemistry in his Ph.D. program at The California Institute of Technology. Reflecting on his research in the early '80s, which brought him back into contact with Kerker, George says: "I really found that fun to do because it was sort of bringing me back to my roots."

George credits Clarkson faculty for nurturing the budding scientist in him. "Somehow in high school I decided that I wanted to be a scientist. This was the age of Sputnik and landing on the moon, so there was general excitement in science. However, I did not have any relatives or friends who were scientists or engineers so I did not have any guidance as to what to do." Clarkson Professor Richard Partch stimulated George's interest in research and Raymond Andrews hired George as a lab instructor which got him interested in becoming a professor.

In January 2005 George became editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, the premier journal in the field of physical chemistry. "The Journal receives over 7,000 manuscripts each year," he says. "Ultimately, I'm the one who decides what kinds of science are going to be highlighted in the journal. We see the science first so I get to sense the excitement of new discoveries. To me it's a very stimulating activity."