Georgia Tech has some of the best chemists in the world according to rankings published by Thomson Reuters Science Watch. For the past decade, 2000-2010, four professors in Tech’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry have been recognized as part of the Top 100 on their lists of Chemists and Materials Scientists.

Younan Xia, professor of chemistry with a joint appointment in the Georgia Tech/Emory Department of Biomedical Engineering, is ranked No. 4 on the Top 100 Materials Scientists list and No. 35 on the Top 100 Chemists list.

Mostafa El-Sayed, professor and director of the Laser Dynamics Laboratory, is ranked as No. 17 on the list of Top 100 Chemists.

Professor John Reynolds is No. 69 on the list of Top 100 Materials Scientists. He holds a joint appointment with the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Jean-Luc Bredas, professor and co-director of the Center for Computational Molecular Science and Technology, is listed as No. 84 on Top 100 Materials Scientists.

Xia, who came to Tech this spring from Washington University in St. Louis, studies the chemistry of nanomaterials, from making them to using nanomaterials in biomedical research as well as in environmentally friendly technologies such as solar cells and fuel cells. He is currently a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine and the Brock Family Chair.

El-Sayed has been at Tech since 1994 and studies the conversion of electronic energy in a wide variety of structures such as semiconductors (quantum dots) and metallic nanostructures. Among his most promising areas of research are using lasers and gold nanorods to detect and fight cancerous tumors under the skin.

In 2007, El-Sayed received the U.S. National Medal of Science by then-President George W. Bush. His citation reads: “for his seminal and creative contributions to our understanding of the electronic and optical properties of nano-materials and to their applications in nano-catalysis and nano-medicine, for his humanitarian efforts of exchange among countries and for his role in developing the scientific leadership of tomorrow.” The next year, he was listed among the 100 most influential people in the state of Georgia.

El-Sayed is currently a Regents’ Professor and the Julius Brown Chair.

Reynolds arrived at Tech this spring from the University of Florida. He is widely considered to be an international leader in the field of polymer synthesis and electro-active polymers.

Bredas has been a Yellow Jacket since 2003. His work seeks to uncover the chemical and physical properties of novel organic materials and includes research on organic solar cells as well as organic light-emitting diodes for potential use in visual displays and lighting.

Bredas is a Regents’ professor and a member of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics. He is also a GRA Eminent Scholar and holds the GRA-Vasser Woolley Chair in Molecular Design. In addition, he holds an extraordinary professorship at the University of Mons in Belgium and an honorary professorship at the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.