Rice University’s Junichiro Kono has assumed leadership of the Smalley-Curl Institute, named for Nobel Laureates Richard Smalley and Robert Curl ’54 and home to some of the world’s most accomplished researchers in nanoscience, quantum science and materials science.
Kono is the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor in Engineering, chair of the Applied Physics Graduate Program and professor of electrical and computer engineering, physics and astronomy and materials science and nanoengineering. He is a world leader in studies of light-matter interactions and nanomaterials.
Early in his career, Kono collaborated with Smalley on the physical properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), including the experimental discovery of the Aharonov-Bohm effect on the band structure of SWCNTs in high magnetic fields. He also clarified exciton physics in SWCNTs, elucidating how the interplay between strong Coulomb interactions and symmetry breaking can control the optical properties of SWCNTs. Further, his group has been using wafer-scale films of aligned SWCNTs to explore one-dimensional quantum phenomena in a macroscopic world.
“I am deeply honored and excited to lead the Smalley-Curl Institute,” Kono said. “The opportunity to build upon the incredible legacy of Richard Smalley and Robert Curl is both a privilege and a challenge, which I embrace wholeheartedly. I’m really looking forward to working with the talented researchers and students at Rice University to further advance our understanding and application of nanomaterials and quantum phenomena. Together, we can accomplish great things.”
Kono currently leads Rice’s top 10-ranked Applied Physics Graduate Program, which has flourished under his leadership and is forecasted to double in size over the next five years. Moreover, the Smalley-Curl Institute will add additional postdoctoral research fellowships to the current three endowed positions. A number of the institute’s postdoctoral fellows have gone on to successful faculty careers at Purdue University, Texas A&M University, West Virginia University, University of Connecticut, Tulane University, University of Tokyo, IIT Kharagpur, the Spanish National Research Council and several others as well as careers in industry.
“With his great track record in fostering international research talent — with student exchange programs between the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, China, Singapore and France that have introduced hundreds of students to new cultures and ways of researching science and engineering — Jun brings a wealth of experience in building cultural and technological ties across the globe,” said Ramamoorthy Ramesh, executive vice president for research.
Kono succeeds University Professor Naomi Halas as director of the institute. Halas is the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the founding director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics as well as co-founder of two groundbreaking startup companies.
“I want to offer my deepest gratitude to Naomi for her distinguished leadership of the institute and its precursors, the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Rice Quantum Institute,” Ramesh said. “Naomi has led the Smalley-Curl Institute since its creation as a merger of those two institutes with great success. Jun will build on Naomi’s accomplishments and lead the Smalley-Curl Institute to explore new frontiers in quantum physics and chemistry, while also further strengthening the historical focus of the institute on nanoscale phenomena and structures.”