ALUMNI NEWS

George W. Crabtree

Physics Alumnus George W. Crabtree Elected to National Academy of Sciences

This past spring, George W. Crabtree (PhD LAS, 1974), the director of the Materials Science Division of the Argonne National Laboratory, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). An Argonne Distinguished Fellow, he is a highly cited expert in the field of superconductive materials and the recipient of several awards for his pioneering research.

Crabtree has been recognized four separate times by the U.S. Department of Energy for Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment in Solid State Physics. The editor of Physica C for over 15 years, Crabtree has also chaired or edited several reports on the basic research needs behind utilizing hydrogen and solar power.

Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the U.S. Crabtree will be inducted into the academy next April during its 146th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Crabtree earned his PhD in Condensed Matter Physics in 1974. Mr. Crabtree kindly agreed to answer for us a few questions about his research and about his time as a doctoral student at UIC.

Q. You were recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a long hallowed society of scientists and engineers. How does it feel to join Einstein, Oppenheimer and Edison as an Academy member?

A. Election to the Academy is every scientist's dream—one of the highest honors for a scientific career. It is thrilling and humbling to be included in such a distinguished body of outstanding thinkers and doers. While I am blinded by the brilliance of the Academy and its members, I look forward with relish to interacting with them. Talking with smart people is one of the greatest pleasures of science.

Q. How would you describe your research to someone who has only the vaguest idea what condensed matter physics is? Has your work perhaps touched our lives in direct or indirect ways that former history majors like myself should know about?

A. Condensed matter physics is the study of materials and their response to stimuli of every kind. What happens when an electric field is applied to a metal or a semiconductor? Answering this question has led not only to advancing the frontier of knowledge, but also to modern electronics, computers, cell phones and iPods that have changed nearly every aspect of our lives. Equally marvelous materials with equally strong impact are waiting in the wings: semiconductor-based lighting that uses ten-times less energy and last ten-times longer than incandescent bulbs, and superconducting cables that will provide five-times more electrical power to our cities and suburbs than conventional copper cables. These and many other necessities of modern life are direct outgrowths of advances in condensed matter and materials physics. It is advances in materials that enable advances in society.

Q. Three years ago, you were a congressional witness, testifying before the House Subcommittees on Energy and Research on Fueling The Future: On The Road To The Hydrogen Economy. Given this summer’s $4.00+ price tag on a gallon of gas­-and on the American public’s awakening to the need for alternative, green energy sources—this seems to have special resonance today. What was the experience like on Capital Hill? Is hydrogen perhaps our future?

A. Testifying before Congress was awe-inspiring—the weight and customs of government were obvious in the hearing room. It was clear then, and even more clear now, that the US faces enormous energy challenges. We need to find alternatives to our traditional dependence on fossil fuels. Hydrogen is an appealing alternative, because it is plentiful in the oceans and in organic matter, it produces no pollutants or greenhouse gases, and, best of all, it can be converted to electricity in fuel cells at high efficiency. Electricity, produced by non-fossil sources like solar, wind and hydrogen fuel cells, is the best replacement for fossil energy in transportation. Electrifying transportation requires new materials, such as electrodes for high-energy batteries for plug-in hybrids and electric cars, catalysts to replace expensive platinum in fuel cells, and superconductors to distribute electricity at five times the present capacity in congested urban and suburban areas where most cars operate. Hydrogen can be a pillar of the coming expansion of electricity, provided we can overcome the fundamental materials challenges in its production, storage and use. I came away with a very favorable impression of Congress. They asked intelligent questions and clearly grasped the issues. It is a wonderful feeling to have the chance to influence their decisions.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your time in the Physics Department. Do you have a favorite memory from your time at UIC?

A. I have very fond memories of my graduate student days at UIC. My overwhelming memory is of the intellectual stimulation. I took all my classes in the late afternoon or evening because I was working full time as a laboratory technician at Argonne while going to school. The courses were marvelous—group theory from Ben Varga, condensed matter physics from Jim Garland, statistical mechanics from David Vezetti, to name a few. I thrived on the lectures and personal discussions following them. In December we students wrote and performed satirical skits in the rotunda of SES, entertaining the faculty and students with parodies of Department life.

My first seminar as a physics graduate student, on the electronic structure of metallic elements, was another high point. It was an intellectual thrill and also intimidating, especially when the faculty asked questions about the density of states that I could not answer. I began to learn how to listen carefully and improvise on the spot, a skill that we all must master in life.

I finally earned my PhD in condensed matter physics, the second granted by the Physics Department. I kept up my contacts with my Alma Mater, serving on several thesis defense committees and collaborating with faculty there. I have witnessed the UIC Physics Department grow by leaps and bounds in breadth and depth. It is satisfying to know that in some small way I helped to grow this enterprise and to serve as a representative of its stature.

Q. Did you have any mentors that helped shape your pursuits or cohort members with whom you collaborated?

A. Lots of faculty had a strong effect on me. I talked often with Jim Kouvel who took a strong interest not only in his primary subject magnetism, but also in my eventual subject, superconductivity. We had long talks about the striking magnetic properties of superconductors, especially the behavior of vortices and their competing responses to electric transport currents and pinning defects. I first met Helmut Claus as a member of my thesis defense committee, and we formed a long and fruitful relationship as collaborators, colleagues and friends that is still very lively. His work on ultra-sensitive measurements of magnetization in superconductors is central to many of the advances in the field.

Q. What advice would you give to the young physicists training at UIC now?

The advice I would give is timeless: aspire to quality, invest enormous time and energy in learning your field, and aim just beyond the frontier. Intellectual discipline is important, one cannot compromise on search for truth. Equally important is the creative impulse, thinking in ways that are not standard in the field. The best ideas are often just beyond conventional thinking. When one of these ideas hits, it is important to think carefully about it (many, of course, are not useful) and to embrace it if it feels right. There is never any shortage of challenges and opportunities in physics—it takes the wisdom and common sense to go after the best ones.