CV Nicholas D. Spencer

Born in the UK, Prof. Nicholas D. Spencer studied at Cambridge University, obtaining his PhD in 1980  in the area of gold and silver surface chemistry. Subsequently, he spent two years at the University of California, Berkeley, where he investigated the catalysis of ammonia synthesis by iron single crystals. From 1982 until 1993, Nicholas Spencer worked for W.R. Grace & Co., USA, in the areas of catalysis, high-temperature superconductors, surface analysis, and vibrational spectroscopy.

Nicholas Spencer was elected Full Professor of Surface Science and Technology at the ETH Zurich in 1993. From 1996-1998 and from 2002-2006 he served as Chairman of the Department of Materials. From 2005-2007 he was the first Director of the ETH Materials Research Center. He is currently President of the ETH Research Committee.

The principal areas of his research are biointerfaces, tribology, and surface functionalization and analysis.  He is editor-in-chief of the journal "Tribology Letters", editor of an encyclopedia of physical chemistry and chemical physics, and a editorial board member of the journals "Tribology", "Tribology International", and "Lubrication Science". He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences.