Maureen Kendrick Murphy

USA

Dr. Maureen Kendrick Murphy is Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL, USA. She received her B.A. in Chemisry from Huntingdon College, a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of South Carolina, completed a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Chicago, and started her first academic appointment at the University of Alabama. She co-authored the text “Metals in Biological Systems,” published by Ellis Horwood/Simon and Schuster. For the past two decades, she has co-authored more than 84 peer-reviewed publications with undergraduates at Huntingdon College.

Adam J Hauser

USA

Hauser received his PhD in Physics from The Ohio State University in 2010, and won the California NanoSystems Institute Elings Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at the University of California Santa Barbara from 2012-2015. Dr. Hauser joined the faculty of The University of Alabama in 2015, and is a 2016 recipient of the Army Research Office Young Investigator Program Award.

Khalid M. Khan

Pakistan

Prof. Khan is among the most prominent scientists of Pakistan. Recently UNESCO-TWAS has been awarded to him for three year (2013-2016). Tamgha-i-Imtiaz and Sitara-i-Imtiaz (civil awards) have been conferred by the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan in years 2004 and 2012, respectively, in recognition of his research work. He has been elected as Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences in 2010. Pakistan Academy of Sciences awarded Gold Medals in 2004 and 2010 to Prof. Khan in the recognition of his high quality research.

His contribution in the field of organic chemistry are numerous and praiseworthy. This include establishment of one of the most productive laboratory working on the discovery of new enzyme inhibitors and training of young researchers in the field of drug designing.

Li Hua

Singapore

Puru Jena

United States

Dr. Purusottam (Puru) Jena, Distinguished Professor of Physics at Virginia Commonwealth University received B. Sc. (Hons) and M. Sc. in Physics from Utkal University, India and a Ph. D. in Physics from the University of California at Riverside. After postdoctoral and visiting appointments at the State University of New York, Albany; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Northwestern University, Evanston, and Argonne National Laboratory he joined the Physics faculty of Michigan Technological University, Houghton. He moved to Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond in 1980 where he has remained ever since with the exception of a year (1986-87) as a Program Director at the Materials Science Division of the National Science Foundation, and a year (2007-08) as a Jefferson Science Fellow and Senior Science Advisor at the US Department of State.

Dr. Jena’s research covers a wide range of topics in condensed matter, atomic, and molecular Physics. These include electronic structure of metals, semiconductors, superconductors, alloys, liquid metals, point and complex defects, surfaces, thin films, atomic clusters, cluster assembled materials, nanoscience, and nanotechnology. His current research involves three major areas: structure and properties of nanoclusters and cluster assembled materials, renewable energy with particular emphasis on hydrogen storage, and spintronics. Dr. Jena is the author of nearly 450 papers including editor of 12 conference proceedings. He has given over 350 invited talks in international conferences and academic institutions in nearly 30 countries around the world.

Dr. Jena’s honors include: Jefferson Science Fellow at the US Department of State, David Hare Professorship lecture at the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India; Fellow of the American Physical Society, Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia; University Award of Excellence and Outstanding Scholar Award from Virginia Commonwealth University; and Chair of the Gordon Conference on Metal-Hydrogen Interactions. He has organized more than thirty international conferences and has served as a member of scientific panels for the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and Army research Office. He was a member of the Executive Committee that drafted the report on the “Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy” for the Department of Energy. He has also served on the Virginia Governor’s task force on green energy technologies.