Richard P. Van Duyne, plasmonics pioneer

Renee R. Frontiera and Christy L. Haynes; PNAS November 12, 2019 116 (46) 22891-22893

Figure: Prof. Richard P. Van Duyne, a National Academy of Sciences member; American Physical Society.

Prof. Richard P. Van Duyne, a National Academy of Sciences member who played a pivotal role in starting the field of plasmonics and promoting nanoscience, died on July 28, 2019, at the age of 73. Rick’s prominence as a great intellect and visionary is apparent by his tremendous academic success, including a host of academic awards, an impressive publication record, and generations of mentees working to live up to the potential he saw in them. While being elected to the National Academy of Sciences was Rick’s most coveted recognition, he was proud of all of the recognition he achieved in his long career, including an h-index of 125 and rising, the Earle K. Plyler Prize in Molecular Spectroscopy from the American Physical Society, the Charles N. Reilly Award from the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry, and a 2017 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship.

Rick’s primary contributions to science all stem from his interest in molecular plasmonics, which deals with the interactions of molecules with nanomaterials that support a surface plasmon resonance. Rick entered this field in the early 1970s with training in electrochemistry, and proved himself an early adopter in a number of creative endeavors, including applications in glucose sensing, food safety, art conservation, single-molecule detection, and photocatalysis. As a physical and analytical chemist, Rick’s primary contributions include a number of fundamental insights on the mechanism and applications of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), the development of nanoplasmonic substrates via nanosphere lithography, and extensions of molecular plasmonics into biosensing and submolecular resolution imaging. Rick would definitely appreciate if this retrospective closed with some clear wisdom that those he mentored and other scientists would find useful. While nobody can speak for him, there are several lessons that come from his impactful, and sometimes complicated, career: 1) Cultivate a practice of generating lots of new ideas. 2) Don’t be shy about putting big ideas out there and pursuing them. 3) “Back-of-the-envelope” calculations and models can go a long way toward revealing important scientific directions. 4) Sometimes you will be ahead of your time and you may have to wait for technology to catch up. 5) Sometimes you’ll have to build the tools that you need; don’t be limited by the instrumentation that you can purchase. 6) Great ideas and great synergies can come from unexpected people. Be open to hearing input from everyone. 7) Deep collaborations and connections are critical to achieve field-changing scientific advances. Rick will be missed dearly by many, although it is clear that his scientific and personal impacts will persist for many years to come. (https://www.pnas.org/content/116/46/22891)