雅美之途
教育，人文，社會
聖路易斯華盛頓大學講座教授楊蘭，最近剛剛當選美國AAAS院士, 楊蘭為中科大校友。這是美國最為古老的科學與藝術學院，可以追溯到100多年前愛迪生的創辦功勞，為與美國NAS, NAM和工程學院並列的美國四大科學院。AAAS更加獨特，因為裏麵也有人文學者，例如今年華大的有位當選教授就是研究美國少數族裔語言的，諾貝爾獎得主David Baltimore 的華裔太太Alice Huang曾經當過AAAS的主席。
楊蘭是科大少年班的，堪稱女性物理神童，所以她的所有records都比別人超前。好幾位華大醫學院與她同時當選的教授和主任，都接近了退休的年齡。楊蘭在Caltech得博士，隻做了兩年的博士後就到華大任教，很短時間就爬到華大講座教授的位置，這對於晉升慢的華大確實是了不起的成就。別怪我跟蹤了她太多的學術軌跡，因為我有在報告中介招她的重任。
我們華大曾經麵對Caltech挖人時失去華科大校友汪立宏（Lihong Wang) 教授，據說Caltech為他辦了一個研究所。Frank Yin跟我說，我們競爭不過Caltech, 隻希望Lihong好。但是我們能夠從Caltech吸引到楊蘭教授也算幸運，衷心祝賀她。這次當選也可以看出華大之重心所在，七位當選教授中四位在醫學院，包括剛與Milbrandt創立公司的DiAntonio，他們倆已經是千萬富翁了。
對於那些Science雜誌的常年讀者，我們都熟悉Science就是AAAS的會刊。更有意義的是現任Science雜誌主編為華大前教務長Holden Thorp，他也是Caltech博士，前段時間連發數篇社論炮轟川普總統。
現在的美國，在各行各業都有像楊蘭這樣從中國大陸出來的傑出人士，這樣會為後來的年輕人起到榜樣的作用，美國仍然是一個充滿機會的地方。我們剛來時連接機的人都沒有，從上海來的學生當時單獨抵達聖路易斯機場，為了去華大他試著找Bus, 坐出租車他又覺得太貴，聖市機場哪裏有公共汽車？他看見有老板來接我，便通過求情混上了車。
下麵是華大媒體對楊蘭教授的介紹：
Lan Yang
Yang is the Edwin H. & Florence G. Skinner Professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering. AAAS is honoring her for groundbreaking contributions to the fields of photonics, particularly her pioneering experimental studies on non-Heritian photonics, optical sensing and light-matter interactions in optical resonators.
Many of the high-tech devices we use in our day-to-day lives are electronic devices — they rely on the movement of electrons to transmit information. Photonic devices, however, use photons, or light, instead. Yang’s research focuses on silicon-chip-based, ultra-high-quality micro-resonators and their applications for sensing, lasing, nonlinear optics, environmental monitoring, biomedical research and communication.
In her research, she tailors chemical compositions and nanostructures to achieve advanced micro/nano photonic devices with desired properties, such as an all-optical analog of an electronic diode that allows current flow in one direction.
In 2018, her lab was the first to successfully record environmental data using a wireless photonic sensor resonator with a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) architecture. In 2020, she was listed as a highly-cited researcher by Clarivate Web of Science. Her research could have impacts in the creation of biomedical devices, electronics and biohazard detection devices, among others.
Yang is a fellow of APS, IEEE and is editor-in-chief of Photonics Research, a journal published by The Optical Society, of which she is also a fellow. She joined Washington University in 2007. In 2010, she earned a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and, in 2011, she was honored by President Barack Obama with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
“The mission statement of AAAS truly echoes with me,” Yang said. “‘Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.’
“This is also my lifelong motto that gives me the passion and motivation to work hard on science and technology, the career I chose many years ago, hoping one day what I have done could benefit and help the world.”
