Dr. David Grier, Ph.D. - Professor of Physics; Director, Center for Soft Matter Research, NYU - Discovering Nature's Fundamental Organizing Principles

Dr. David Grier, Ph.D. is Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for Soft Matter Research, at NYU ( https://as.nyu.edu/features/meet-faculty-of-as/david-grier.html ). Dr. Grier’s research focuses on experimental soft condensed matter physics—an interdisciplinary field that includes physics, chemistry, biology, and nanotechnology, ultimately aiming to understand how objects interacting in simple ways manage to organize into sophisticated hierarchies of both structure and function. After completing a B.S. in Physics from Harvard College, a Ph.D. in Physics from University of Michigan, and two years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Condensed Matter Physics Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Dr. Grier accepted a faculty position at the University of Chicago, where he was a member of the physics department for 12 years. He moved to New York University (NYU) in 2004 and served as Department Chair for eight years. Dr. Grier has numerous laboratory achievements including developing state-of-the-art methods of digital video microscopy, introducing powerful new methods of holographic video microscopy, demonstrating the first practical tractor beams, the first knotted force fields, and the first optically organized micromachines. Dr. Grier’s group, as part of its National Science Foundation-funded basic research program, developed a holographic optical trapping technique, which provides the groundwork for a range of new categories of applications in photonics, medical diagnostics, drug discovery, and environmental monitoring. Dr. Grier has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on basic research in this area and holds more than 50 U.S. Patents on technology invented in the course of this research. His efforts have been recognized with a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship. More than a dozen of his former graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have gone on to faculty positions in major universities or leadership roles in industrial research and development. Dr. Grier is also Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of Spheryx Inc. ( https://spheryx.solutions/ ), a revolutionary company leveraging his research in finding solutions to deliver better, safer products at reduced costs, and providing benefits to consumers and manufacturers across multiple industries. 

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