Kevin E. Smith

Biography

Professor Smith’s area of research is experimental materials chemistry and physics. Specifically, he studies the electronic structure of complex materials using synchrotron radiation-excited photon and electron spectroscopies. He currently holds three Professorships at Boston University, in Physics, Chemistry and Materials Science, and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Vacuum Society. Professor Smith’s interests are broad and interdisciplinary, including studies of low dimensional organic and inorganic solids, thin film organic semiconductors for use in solar cells, metal nitrides with potential spintronic applications, wide band gap semiconductors, and the surface chemistry of fuel cell cathodes. A native of Ireland, Professor Smith’s undergraduate education was at the University of Dublin, Trinity College and his postgraduate education at Yale. His academic career began with a focus on applied physics and subsequently broadened to encompass the disciplines of chemistry and materials science. Professor Smith is an award-winning teacher. He received the annual Boston University Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1999, and was named the 2001 Massachusetts Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He has also held leadership roles in Boston University programmes established to enhance undergraduate teaching, including for the most gifted students. Amongst his academic leadership roles he has acted as Special Assistant to three Provosts of Boston University, with responsibility for strategic tasks including developing international multi-disciplinary research collaborations, and has served as a member of the Panel of Experts for the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government of Ireland.

Research Interest

Kevin Smith’s research interests are in the chemistry and physics of novel materials. Synchrotron- based x-ray spectroscopic studies of the electronic structure of materials. Systems of fundamental scientific and technological interest are investigated, with definitive measurements made of their surface, bulk, interface, and nano-scale electronic properties. Among the spectroscopies used are angle resolved photoemission, soft x-ray emission, resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, and x-ray absorption