Figure timeline
Steven Chu is an American physicist and former government official. He is a Nobel laureate and was the 12th U.S. secretary of energy. He is currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. He is known for his research at the University of California, Berkeley, and his research at Bell Laboratories and Stanford Univer…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
politics · American physicist and government official (born 1948) · physicist · politician · university teacher · climate activist · minister · also Steven Chu, Chu
Born 28 February 1948 · Q172466
42 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
8 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
“be working closely with my colleagues in the Administration to review the recommendations and to chart a path for continued development of this vital energy resource in a safe manner”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Compton Medal for Leadership in Physics (2024).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Published “Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019” in The Lancet — cited 16,051 times.
Where he later gave a lecture titled "Climate Change and Needed Technical Solutions for a Sustainable Future" in March 2018
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
PolitiFact rated the claim “Obama's secretary of energy, Dr. Steven Chu, "has said publicly he wants us to pay European levels (for gasoline), and that would be $9 or $10 a gallon."” Mostly True.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
Published “A global reference for human genetic variation” in Nature — cited 17,839 times.
Chu signed the Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change on the final day of the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Foreign Member of the Royal Society (2014).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chu was awarded an honorary doctorate from Williams College, during which he gave a talk moderated by Williams College Professor Protik Majumder
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Marine Link: Steven Chu News
Chu was the designated survivor during the State of the Union address
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chu announced his intent to resign
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2014
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded honorary doctor of Yale University (2010).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded honorary doctor of Harvard University (2009).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chu was sworn in as Secretary of Energy in the Barack Obama administration
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: United States Secretary of Energy (2009–2013).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded honorary doctor of the Peking University (2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Alternative Energy Sources Archived 2019-06-01 at the Wayback Machine March 28, 2005, Chu's PowerPoint presentation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded honorary doctor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1998).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Wolfgang Paul Lecture (1998).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chu received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics — for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Married Jean Fetter, a British-American Oxford-trained physicist
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
For the "development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light", together with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (1996).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Humboldt Prize (1995).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science (1994).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded William F. Meggers Award (1994).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Optical Society recognized Chu with the William F
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded King Faisal International Prize in Science (1993).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Fellow of the Optical Society (1991).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award (1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I'm the least-educated person in my immediate family. My two other brothers have multiple advanced degrees, and I only have one. [...] Actually, now that I've got a Nobel Prize, I feel equal.”
“The atoms become like a moth, seeking out the region of higher laser intensity.”
Awarded Herbert P. Broida Prize (1987).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Serving as the chair of its physics department from 1990 to 1993 and from 1999 to 2001
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Fellow of the American Physical Society (1986).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
During which he was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
From the University of Rochester and earned his Ph
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1948-02-28.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections