Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has won the 2007-08 Harold J. Plous Award, one of UCSB’s most prestigious faculty honors.

The honor is given annually by the Academic Senate to an assistant professor from the humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences who has shown exceptional achievement in research, teaching, and service to the university.

Nguyen, who joined the faculty in 2004, will have an opportunity to showcase her research when she gives the Plous Lecture, at a date to be announced later.

In congratulating Nguyen, Chancellor Henry Yang said, “Our campus shares great pride in your research and teaching achievements in photophysics and the electronic properties of organic and metal-organic hybrid materials. We are so glad to have you as our colleague, and we will all look forward to your lecture.”

He noted that Nguyen has achieved many distinctions, including the 2005 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and the 2006 National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Nguyen has established a highly recognized research program in the area of organic optoelectronic materials, with emphasis on characterization of nanoscale electronic properties, according to historian Alice O’Connor, chair of the Senate’s Plous Memorial Award Committee. One example of how her work has made significant contributions is in the area of light-harvesting materials, which attempts to imitate photosynthesis.

Nguyen’s work in this area is specifically aimed at improving organic semiconducting polymers, one of the most promising classes of materials for these uses. Following groundbreaking research in which she found ways of bringing more stability to such materials, Nguyen has recently published work showing how to develop photovoltaic devices designed to absorb a broader than usual range of sun light.

The selection committee also commented on her ”zest” for teaching. At the graduate level she developed a class on nanoscience and nanotechnology that quickly became very popular with graduate students from physics, chemistry and biochemistry, and engineering. The course was featured in a presentation to the State of California Education Subcommittee panel of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology.