Society for Applied Spectroscopy Announces 2025 Fellows Award Recipients

The Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) announced the five recipients of the 2025 Fellows Award. The five recipients this year are George Chan of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Jay Kitt of the University of Utah, Ioan Notingher of the University of Nottingham, Rohith Reddy of the University of Houston, and Zachary D. Schultz of The Ohio State University.

This award is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards offered by the society. It recognizes scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of spectroscopy (1). This year, the 2025 awardees include leaders in atomic, biomedical, and vibrational spectroscopy, representing various academic and national research institutions across the globe (1).

The first recipient, George Chan is a research chemist Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, California. Chan is being recognized for his contributions to plasma and analytical atomic spectroscopy (1). Chan got his start at Indiana University under the mentorship of Gary Hieftje, where he received his Ph.D. Chan’s recent work explored nuclear safeguards and uranium enrichment analysis, applying laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in these application areas (1). He is a recipient of multiple SAS and Elsevier awards, including the SAS/NASLIBS Award (2024) and four Elsevier/Spectrochimica Acta Atomic Spectroscopy Awards (1). In his spare time, Chan also serves as review editor for Spectrochimica Acta Part B (1).

The next recipient, Jay Kitt, is a professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He is being recognized this year for his work in vibrational spectroscopy. Kitt has a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry with an additional MS degree in biomedical informatics (1). Currently, Kitt is conducting ongoing work in advanced Raman spectroscopy, applying this technique in membrane chemistry and interfacial science (1). In 2024, he received both the SAS Early Career Scientist Award and the SAS Distinguished Service Award (1). His leadership roles include Parliamentarian, Governing Documents Committee member, and Guest Editor for Applied Spectroscopy. His contributions to SAS governance, including a major bylaws revision in 2020.

The third SAS fellow is Ioan Notingher of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He is the only European recipient on the list this year. Notingher is most known for his work in biophotonics and Raman-based clinical diagnostics (1). After completing his Ph.D. in the UK and postdoctoral work at Imperial College London and Edinburgh University, he joined the University of Nottingham in 2006 and was appointed full professor in 2015 (1). Currently, he leads a Biophotonics Group, which has developed selective-sampling Raman techniques that are now being tested for intraoperative cancer diagnostics (1). Notingher has also been involved with SAS through the SciX conferences over the years, and he was also awarded for his paper in Applied Spectroscopy in 2024, when he was presented with the 2024 William F. Meggers Award (1).

The fourth fellow this year is Rohith Reddy of the University of Houston. Reddy is being recognized for his work in biomedical vibrational spectroscopy and for his service to SAS and the Coblentz Society (1). Reddy received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and conducted his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (1). Throughout his career, Reddy has focused on disease diagnosis, applying and developing new spectroscopic tools that could help improve patient outcomes. Some of the diseases that his research has concentrated on include some types of cancer and Alzheimer’s (1). He has published many papers over his career, holds seven U.S. patents, and has organized sessions at SciX and SPIE conferences for over a decade (1). His honors include the Meggers Award in 2014, the FACSS Innovation Award, and multiple student awards from SAS and Coblentz. Currently, Reddy serves as president-elect of the Coblentz Society (1).

The last recipient this year is Zachary D. Schultz of The Ohio State University, who is being recognized for his work in nanostructured materials and ultrasensitive spectroscopic imaging (1). Schultz earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and completed postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institute of Health (NIH), where he applied vibrational spectroscopy to biomembrane systems (1). Schultz is also a former president of the Coblentz Society, another organization committed to the advancement of spectroscopy. Previously, Schultz received the Craver Award in 2021, and was elected as an AAAS Fellow in 2019, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2024 (1). Schultz’s research integrates label-free detection with nanotechnology to advance biomedical spectroscopy.

The fellows will be recognized at this year’s SciX Conference, which will take place in Northern Kentucky (just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio) from October 5–10, 2025 (2). Currently, SAS is accepting nominations for the 2026 awards. To nominate someone who has made a significant contribution to science, the application must include a short biography, the nominee’s current resume or CV, and a recommendation letter with supporting documentation (1).

References

1. Society for Applied Spectroscopy, Fellows Award. SAS. Available at: https://sas.memberclicks.net/fellows (accessed 2025-07-01).
2. Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Upcoming Conferences. SAS. Available at: https://sas.memberclicks.net/upcoming-events-and-conferences (accessed 2025-07-01).