KU chemistry professor who worked with recent Nobel Prize winner chosen for exclusive physics society fellowship

LAWRENCE — It has been an exciting couple of weeks for Brian Laird.

The University of Kansas professor of chemistry was named to a prestigious fellowship program shortly after learning a researcher he previously worked with won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Laird, who also has been a courtesy professor in both physics & astronomy and chemical & petroleum engineering at KU and is a researcher in the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, has been elected to the Fellowship in the American Physical Society.

The APS Fellowship recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions in the field of physics. Each year, no more than one-half of 1% of the society’s membership (excluding student members) are elected to the status of fellow. KU currently has three other active fellowship members on its faculty, all within the Department of Physics & Astronomy.

But how did Laird, a chemist, receive a society of physicists’ top honor? He was chosen for his groundbreaking, interdisciplinary work developing algorithms for molecular modeling, or as the society put it: “For pioneering contributions to the use of atomistic simulation to study the equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties of interfaces and significant advances in the development of algorithms for molecular-dynamics simulation.”

One benefit of that computational modeling is that it complements experimental work in physics, chemistry and engineering by providing a detailed understanding of how molecular-level interactions give rise to observable phenomena.

“To be recognized by the physics community as a chemist is quite an honor,” Laird said. “I think it speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of my work.”

Arash Mafi, executive dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at KU, said Laird’s selection exemplifies both the innovative research and collaborative spirit that pervade throughout the college.

“Dr. Laird receiving this prestigious and well-deserved honor comes as no surprise,” Mafi said. “He is a prime example of the cutting-edge research happening across the College that builds bridges between disciplines and leads to exciting new discoveries. His work not only advances basic science but will also lead to applications that improve our daily lives.” 

Nobel Prize winner connection

Laird’s selection came on the heels of the announcement that his former research colleague, Omar Yaghi, was one of a team of three scientists chosen for this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Yaghi, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkley, and his colleagues were recognized for their work creating metal-organic frameworks that can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gasses or catalyze chemical reactions. From 2009 to 2015, Laird was a co-principal investigator with Yaghi on an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the Department of Energy, an association that, Laird said modestly, makes him “Nobel-adjacent along with many other people.”

“My role was to take the materials he had and do computational predictions of the absorption of carbon dioxide and methane,” Laird said.

Though he is appreciative of the attention his work is getting, Laird said he is not alone within the KU Department of Chemistry when it comes to doing such boundary-pushing work.

“We have several people in the chemistry department doing physics-based work,” he said. “KU, in general, is good at fostering these interdisciplinary ideas.”

About the American Physical Society

Established in 1921, the American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive and global community dedicated to science and society. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories and industry in the United States and around the world.