New Journal Wins PROSE Award

ACS Nano, a new journal whose editor-in-chief is Penn State Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Physics Paul Weiss, has received a 2008 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE). The journal publishes scientific papers, reviews, and editorial features on nanoscience and nanotechnology. This year, PROSE award winners were determined by a distinguished panel of judges, including publishing professionals from McGraw-Hill, Wiley-Blackwell, and Johns Hopkins University Press, as well as librarians and faculty members from universities, such as the University of Arizona, the University of Toronto, New York University, and Columbia University.

ACS Nano also was highly commended in 2008 by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers for "demonstrating impressive implementation and results from a highly professional new journal launch."

Weiss's research program explores the properties of matter at the atomic scale. This work includes studies of catalysis, molecular electronics, molecular motors, self-assembly, nanofabrication, and control of molecules on surfaces and in lipid bilayers. He has developed a number of techniques for measuring chemical, physical, and electronic properties at the atomic scale and for manipulating and controlling atoms and molecules. These techniques have applications in nanoscale technology for electronics, data storage, and motors and in the understanding and control of biological membranes, such as cell walls.

Weiss joined the Penn State faculty in 1989 as an assistant professor of chemistry, was named associate professor of chemistry in 1995, professor of chemistry in 2001, professor of physics in 2002, and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Physics in 2006. He served as associate director of the Center for Nanoscale Science from 2002 to 2005.