History of the Smalley-Curl Institute
The Smalley-Curl Institute, which houses the Applied Physics Program, the Rice Quantum Initiative, the Rice Center for Quantum Materials and a Nanoscience & Chemistry field of inquiry, as well as a growing list of Thematic Working Interest Groups, evolved from two separate but related directions:
- The Rice Quantum Institute, founded in 1979 by Profs. Richard Smalley, Robert Curl and others; and
- The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), which was the first center for nanoscale inquiry in the world, established in 1993. Prof. Smalley founded the CNST to accelerate research into nanotechnology - and especially carbon nanotechnology - as a direct outgrowth of the discovery of the Buckminsterfullerene, or C-60 molecule, for which Profs. Curl, Smalley and Kroto won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996.
Rice changed the name of the CNST to the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology after Rick’s death in 2005. In 2015, University Professor Naomi Halas, who was at the time Director of the RQI, was also named as the new Smalley Institute director, and was part of a committee that decided to merge the two organizations and rename them the Smalley-Curl Institute, properly honoring Prof. Curl.
In 2023, the SCI began a renewal campaign, with strong support from the Rice Office of Research. Under the leadership of Director Halas and an active Steering Committee, the institute has begun to add staff and programs, with a mission to:
- Support faculty across the university in collaborating on Thematic Working Interests Groups (TWIGS) - which are leading already to a higher volume of large grant proposals and other leadership efforts.
- Increase support for the Rice Quantum Initiative and the Rice Center for Quantum Materials.
- Continue the momentum in the Applied Physics Program of graduate studies, which is one of the world’s leading programs of its kind.
- Establish and strengthen the relationships with agencies, institutions, industry and universities that will lead toward groundbreaking research and meaningful innovation.
- Support Rice University’s continued leadership in nanoscale and quantum research and technology.
At the beginning of 2024, Rice named Prof. Junichiro Kono Director of the Smalley-Curl Institute, continuing the tradition of strong leadership by research-active leaders taking the institute to new levels of excellence. Jun Kono is the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Engineering, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a longtime champion of international student and scholar exchange - between the US and Japan, Taiwan, China and France.