Nancy Makri

Nancy Makri was born in Athens, Greece on September 5, 1962.[5] She graduated from the University of Athens in 1985[2][1] with a B.S. in Chemistry, after working with Professor C. A. Nicolaides.[5] She then attended the University of California at Berkeley and received her Ph.D. in 1989[2] under the direction of William H. Miller. Her thesis title was Theoretical methods for the study of chemical dynamics.[6] In 1992 she married physical chemist Martin Gruebele.[2][7]

Makri spent two years as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University, from 1989-1991.[1] She joined the Chemistry faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign in 1992. In 1996 she became Associate Professor with tenure, and in 1999, Professor of Chemistry and Physics.[7] She is the principal investigator of the Makri Research Group for the theoretical understanding of condensed phase quantum dynamics,[4] and has co-authored over 100 scientific articles.[8] She is also an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Science and Technology.[9]

Makri works in the area of theoretical chemical physics. She has developed new theoretical approaches to simulating the dynamics of quantum mechanical phenomena.[7] Makri has developed novel methods for calculating numerically exact path integrals for the simulation of system dynamics in harmonic dissipative environments.[8] Her simulation algorithms address the limitations of the Schrödinger equation, which can only describe physical changes exactly in the quantum state of small molecules.[10][11] By identifying aspects of simulations which can be effectively simplified, Dr. Makri's group have developed "the first fully quantum mechanical methodology for calculating the evolution of a quantum system in a dissipative environment by performing an iterative decomposition of Feynman’s path integral expression".[12] Such simplifications make it possible to calculate outcomes that otherwise would not be mathematically feasible.[11] Her careful examinations of the system-harmonic bath model have resulted in techniques for avoiding the Monte Carlo sign problem.[13][8]

The ability to model proton and electron transfer reactions has been successfully applied to biological systems such as the quantum simulation of electron transfer in bacterial photosynthesis,[14][15] offering "a complete and unambiguous picture of the process".[16][11] More recent work has focused on developing a methodology for forward-backward semiclassical dynamics using classical trajectory calculations. This approach has been used to model the activity of helium in both normal and superfluid phases, examining Bose-statistical effects in relationship to phase transitions.[12][17][8]

Makri has received a number of awards and honors, including the following:[3][7][5]

• Arnold O. Beckman Research Award, University of Illinois Research Board, 2003
• Fellow, American Physical Society, 2001, "For developing novel real time path integral methods and decisively quantifying how condensed phase environments affect quantum barrier crossing and biological charge transfer."[18]
• Academic Prize in Physical Sciences, Bodossaki Foundation, 2000[19]
• Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award, 1999, "for her work with photosynthesis and the charge transfer reactions which occur in photosynthetic systems"[11]
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1998[20]
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award, 1997[21]
• Annual Medal of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, 1995[2]
• Cottrell Scholar Award, 1994[2]
• Sloan Research Fellowship, 1994[2]
• David and Lucille Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, 1993[12]
• National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, 1993[22][2]
• Beckman Young Investigators Award, 1993[23]