Abraham Nitzan, professor of chemistry, has been named Donner Professor of Physical Sciences. Dr. Nitzan’s research focuses on the interaction of light with molecular systems, chemical reactions in condensed phases and interfaces and charge transfer processes in such environments. He came to Penn from Tel Aviv University in 2015, where he held the Kodesh Chair of Chemical Dynamics. 

Dr. Nitzan is the recipient of the Humboldt Award; the Israel Chemical Society Award (2003) and Medal (2015); the EMET Prize and the Israel Prize in Chemistry; and the Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry (2017-2018). He is a Foreign Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

The Donner Professorship of Physical Sciences was established in 1958 by the Donner Foundation, now known as the Independence Foundation.