Wilson Ho

Biography

Wilson Ho, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Physics & Astronomy and of Chemistry and Donald Bren Professor at the University of California, Irvine. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Ho's research focuses on single-molecule chemistry and physics using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), developing techniques that enable atomic-scale measurements of molecular structure, bonding, and dynamics with spatial and temporal resolution.

Ho is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and an Academician of Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His honors include the Irving Langmuir Prize from the American Physical Society, the Medard W. Welch Award from the American Vacuum Society, the Joseph F. Keithley Award from the American Physical Society, and the Heinrich Rohrer Medal. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior US Scientists and served as the 150th Anniversary Jubilee Visiting Professor at Chalmers University, Sweden.

Ho has authored 289 refereed publications and supervised 48 doctoral students and 30 postdoctoral associates. His laboratory has developed instrumentation including low-temperature STM systems, inelastic tunneling probes, and femtosecond laser-coupled STM techniques. He has transferred homemade STM instrumentation and helium recycling systems to more than a dozen research institutions worldwide. His STM images and research findings have been incorporated into textbooks ranging from elementary school science books to college chemistry and physics texts.

Education

• B.S. in Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 1975
• M.S. in Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 1975
• Ph.D. in Physics, University of Pennsylvania, 1979

Distinctions

• Academician, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, Republic of China, 2014
• Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior US Scientists, 1997
• Irving Langmuir Prize, American Physical Society, 2013
• Joseph F. Keithley Award, American Physical Society, 2018
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2009
• Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 2013
• Heinrich Rohrer Medal, Grand Medal, 2024
• Bonn Chemistry Prize, Germany, 2000
• International Fellow of the Japan Society of Vacuum and Surface Science, 2024
• Medard W. Welch Award, American Vacuum Society, 2011