The award is presented annually at the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy (ISMS). Due to delays arising from the COVID-19 situation, the 2022 award will be presented in 2023. Consequently, in 2023, the distinguished honor will be presented at SciX.

2023 recipient

Wei Xiong

Professor Wei Xiong is a Professor and Kent Wilson Faculty Scholar in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. Wei received his B.S. degree from Peking University, China, in 2006. He then joined Prof. Martin Zanni’s group at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and completed his Ph.D. degree in 2011. At Madison, Wei focused on developing novel 2D vibrational spectroscopy (transient 2D IR and heterodyne 2D SFG spectroscopy) to study molecules on solid-state material surfaces. Wei then moved to the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2011, where he worked with Prof. Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn to develop the table-top XUV source for ultrafast measurements and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy for nanoparticles. He joined the faculty at the University of California San Diego in 2014. At UCSD, Wei’s research focuses on using and developing ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopic and imaging tools to reveal molecular structures and dynamics of materials, including ultrafast dynamics of polaritonic systems, guest molecule adsorptions in self-assembled materials, femtosecond charge transfer dynamics on organic material interfaces. He has specifically pioneered using and developing ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopy to reveal the dynamics and interactions between molecule polaritons. Wei earned many awards including the Coblentz Award, Sloan Research Fellow, JPC/PHYS Lectureship Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, DARPA Director’s Fellow, NSF CAREER Award, AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award. Wei has also been invited to give more than 80 invited talks at conferences and seminars in universities and research institutions, including several keynote/plenary/award talks.