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Global Young Scientists Summit

Steven Chu

Discover the work and achievements of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, a leading expert in energy science and physics at Stanford University.

Last updated 3 August 2026

Steven Chu

Steven Chu, Nobel Prize in Physics 1997, wearing glasses, dark suit, and orange tie, with an orange radiant background.

Steven Chu is Professor of Physics, Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and of Energy Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He received degrees in mathematics and physics from the University of Rochester and a PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He has 35 honorary degrees and is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences as well as eight foreign academies. 

Previously, he was the US Secretary of Energy, where he began the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy and the Energy Innovation Hubs as well as helped BP stop the Macondo Oil leak. He was also a director at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a department head at Bell Laboratories. In 1997, Prof Chu received the Nobel Prize in Physics for laser cooling and the trapping of atoms. His other contributions include the optical tweezers of biomolecules, atom interferometry and single molecule biology, medical imaging, batteries, and carbon dioxide capture.