True Bruin UC Santa Barbara chemistry professor Thuc-Quyen Nguyen (B.S. ’97, M.S. ’98, Ph.D., ’01 chemistry, Schwartz group) is profiled in a recent Chemistry World article.
In addition to receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from UCLA, Nguyen earned her Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Benjamin Schwartz. Her thesis focused on photophysics of conducting polymers using ultrafast spectroscopy.
The article, titled “The child who dreamt of capturing the sun,” discusses Nguyen’s lifelong interest in solar energy, which began during her childhood in rural Vietnam, where a lack of electricity inspired her to dream of capturing sunlight for use at night. Nguyen is now a leading researcher in organic electronic devices, particularly organic solar cells, which are lightweight, flexible, and semi-transparent and could be integrated into building windows to help cities generate renewable energy and create energy-neutral buildings.
“In addition to all the awards Quyen has won as an independent investigator, she had a full dozen first-author papers with me as a Ph.D. student, plus co-authorships on several more papers, which still today remains the record for students from my group (and Quyen was my very first Ph.D. student),” Schwartz said.
Alongside her scientific work, Nguyen is deeply committed to mentoring young scientists—especially immigrants and those facing discrimination—and helped launch the VinFuture Foundation, which awards major international prizes recognizing scientific breakthroughs with global impact, including special recognition for innovators from developing countries and women.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
