Caltech Scholars Thomas Hou and Jonas Peters Inducted into National Academy of Sciences
Two Caltech professors, Thomas Y. Hou and Jonas C. Peters, have been elected amongst the newest members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) this year. Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.
Thomas Hou is the Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics. Hou’s work focuses on multiscale problems arising from geophysical applications and fluid dynamics. He has made significant progress on the 3D Euler singularity problem, which is closely related to the Navier-Stokes Equation Millennium Problem, which questions whether the equation, regularly used to define the motion of fluids, always remains valid. Hou is also interested in problems that deal with multivariable datasets as well as data analysis in settings where the model and data underlying the analysis continually update.
Jonas Peters is the Bren Professor of Chemistry and director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute (RSI). His research is focused on chemical transformations relevant to feeding and fueling the planet. Specifically, his group works on the development of catalysts and photocatalysts with applications in renewable solar fuel technologies, distributed nitrogen fixation for fertilizers and fuels, and new bond constructions for organic chemists developing pharmaceuticals. At the core of his lab’s work is the development of fundamentally new concepts for such catalysis and elucidation of their underlying reaction mechanisms, along with the characterization of associated intermediates exhibiting unusual electronic structures and bonding. As director of the RSI, Peters leverages Caltech’s unique strengths to innovate solutions for a more sustainable planet.
Hou earned his bachelor’s degree from the South China University of Technology in 1982 and a doctorate in mathematics from UCLA in 1987. He joined Caltech as an associate professor of applied mathematics in 1993, became a professor in 1998, and the Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics in 2004. He served as the executive officer for applied and computational mathematics from 2000 until 2006.