Origins & Early Life

Steven Chu (Chinese: 朱棣文; born February 28, 1948) 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.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

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 University regarding the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, for which he shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips. Chu served as U.S. Secretary of Energy under the Barack Obama administration from 2009 to 2013.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

At the time of his appointment as Energy Secretary, Chu was a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where his research was concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. Chu resigned as energy secretary on April 22, 2013. He returned to Stanford as Professor of Physics, Molecular & Cellular Physiology, and Energy Science and...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Abdulrazak Gurnah — Contemporary (Born in 1948) (1948): Acclaimed Tanzanian novelist and Nobel laureate exploring themes of colonialism and refuge.
• Al Gore — Contemporary (Born in 1948) (1948): American politician, businessman, and leading voice on environmental issues.
• Alan Lightman — Contemporary (Born in 1948) (1948): Physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur exploring science's intersection with humanities.
• 3rd Dalai Lama — Shared historical date (02-28 · Born) (1543): Founding figure of the Dalai Lama lineage, pivotal to Gelug school's rise in Tibet.
• Alfonso XIII — Shared historical date (02-28 · Died) (1941): King of Spain (1886-1931), whose reign spanned constitutional crises and republican upheaval.
• Andrei Linde — Historical peer (Born in 1948) (1948): Pioneering theoretical physicist known for inflationary cosmology and the multiverse concept.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber — Historical peer (Born in 1948) (1948): Iconic English composer and impresario of globally successful musical theatre.
• Allen Ginsberg — Historical peer (Died in 1997) (1997): Pioneering American poet, central figure of the Beat Generation, known for 'Howl'.
• Asa Butterfield — Historical peer (Born in 1997) (1997): English actor known for roles in 'Sex Education' and early film recognition.
• Aage Bohr — Historical peer (Died in 2009) (2009): Pioneering Danish nuclear physicist, Nobel laureate for atomic structure theory.
• 1948 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1948
• February 28 (02-28) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on February 28