The academy is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific academies, counting Louis Pasteur, Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi among its members.
Laura Gagliardi, a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has been elected a foreign member of the Italian National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific academies. The induction ceremony for new members was held in Rome on Nov. 12.
Gagliardi is the Richard and Kathy Leventhal Professor in the University of Chicago’s Department of Chemistry and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, with a joint appointment at the James Franck Institute. She is also the director of the Chicago Center for Theoretical Chemistry and the Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center. In addition, she is a member of Q-NEXT, a DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by Argonne and has a joint appointment in Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering division.
“I’m very honored by this recognition,” Gagliardi said. “For one, the Accademia is a very prestigious intuition, but I also feel honored because it is in my country of origin. I’ve had tremendous opportunities abroad, but I’ve always felt grateful to my country for the education I received there.”
Gagliardi’s research aims to develop novel quantum chemical methods and apply them to study phenomena related to sustainable energies, with special focus on chemical systems relevant to catalysis, spectroscopy, photochemistry and gas separation. In October, Gagliardi and her team published findings in Science that demonstrated how the metal-organic framework MOF-303 pulls potable water from the air.
The Italian National Academy of Sciences was founded in 1603 by Federico Cesi and counted Galileo Galilei among its earliest members. The academy is housed within the Palazzo Corsini in Rome and has long served as a scientific advisor to Italy and the broader global community. Notable members include Louis Pasteur, Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi. Giorgio Parisi, who was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in physics, serves as the academy’s vice president.
Gagliardi is also a member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is a member of Academia Europaea, the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, and the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists. She is an associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.