Moungi Bawendi

Moungi Bawendi was born in Paris, France, to a French mother and Tunisian father, and spent his early years in their home countries. His family moved to the United States when Bawendi’s father, a renowned mathematician, joined the faculty of Purdue University.

Bawendi earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Chicago. As a postdoctoral fellow at Bell Laboratories, he conducted research in materials synthesis that advanced methods of producing high-quality nanoparticles and quantum dots — minute crystals made of semiconductors. Subsequently, he accepted a position at MIT, where he became Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry.

In 2023 Bawendi received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Louis E. Brus and Aleksey Yekimov. He had revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots in 1993, which resulted in almost perfect particles. Quantum dots now illuminate computer monitors and television screens and are used by biochemists and doctors to map biological tissue.

In his Nobel interview, Bawendi recalled his family moving back and forth between France, Tunisia, and the United States. His international upbringing made him feel “a little bit like an outsider,” he said. But the experience also taught him to follow his own path in science: “As long as you’re true to yourself and believe in yourself, you can overcome, you can succeed.”