My science family came from all over the world, and members were of varied backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. The diversity in this "small world" I worked in daily provided the most stimulating environment, with many challenges and much optimism. Over the years, my research group has had close to 150 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting associates. Many of them are now in leading academic, industrial and governmental positions. Working with such minds in a village of science has been the most rewarding experience – Caltech was the right place for me.
Ahmed Zewail has not joined FLAPSS and has not endorsed it. This page is a reference record assembled from published interviews and public remarks. Every answer below is a direct quotation with the source and date shown next to it.
Ahmed Zewail
Chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1999
Egypt / United States · 1946–2016
Science and medicine
About
Chemist at the California Institute of Technology who developed femtosecond spectroscopy, allowing chemical reactions to be observed as they happen. Awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the first Egyptian to receive a science Nobel. He later served on the US President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
4 answers
Recorded · On the billboard
At the age of 21, as a Moeid, I believed that behind every universal phenomenon there must be beauty and simplicity in its description. This belief remains true today.
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