School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 1-50 of 337 Results
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Shamit Kachru
Professor of Physics and Director, Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy current research is focused in three directions:
— Mathematical aspects of string theory (with a focus on BPS state counts, black holes, and moonshine)
— Quantum field theory approaches to condensed matter physics (with a focus on physics of non-Fermi liquids)
— Theoretical biology, with a focus on evolution and ecology -
Michael Kahan
Senior Lecturer of Sociology
Current Research and Scholarly Interests19th and 20th Century Urban and Social History; Street Life; Urban Space
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Colin Kahl
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science
BioColin H. Kahl is co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, the inaugural Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a Professor, by courtesy, in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University. He is also a Strategic Consultant to the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
From October 2014 to January 2017, he was Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President. In that position, he served as a senior advisor to President Obama and Vice President Biden on all matters related to U.S. foreign policy and national security affairs, and represented the Office of the Vice President as a standing member of the National Security Council Deputies’ Committee. From February 2009 to December 2011, Dr. Kahl was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East at the Pentagon. In this capacity, he served as the senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and six other countries in the Levant and Persian Gulf region. In June 2011, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service by Secretary Robert Gates.
From 2007 to 2017 (when not serving in the U.S. government), Dr. Kahl was an assistant and associate professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. From 2007 to 2009 and 2012 to 2014, he was also a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a nonpartisan Washington, DC-based think tank. From 2000 to 2007, he was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. In 2005-2006, Dr. Kahl took leave from the University of Minnesota to serve as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he worked on issues related to counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and responses to failed states. In 1997-1998, he was a National Security Fellow at the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University.
Current research includes an assessment of American grand strategy in the Middle East in the post-9/11 era. A second research project focuses on the implications of emerging technologies on nuclear strategic stability.
He has published numerous articles on international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Security, the Los Angeles Times, Middle East Policy, the National Interest, the New Republic, the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, and the Washington Quarterly, as well as several reports for CNAS.
His previous research analyzed the causes and consequences of violent civil and ethnic conflict in developing countries, focusing particular attention on the demographic and natural resource dimensions of these conflicts. His book on the subject, States, Scarcity, and Civil Strife in the Developing World, was published by Princeton University Press in 2006, and related articles and chapters have appeared in International Security, the Journal of International Affairs, and various edited volumes.
Dr. Kahl received his B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan (1993) and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University (2000). -
Leonora Kaldaras
Affiliate, Physics
BioI am a visiting scholar working with Dr. Wieman. My work focuses on designing equitable learning environments and assessments to support students in developing deep understanding of big ideas in science. My prior published work centers around developing and validating learning progressions in the fields of Physical Science and Chemistry aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). My past research experience includes testing and validating machine learning (ML) approaches for automatic scoring of performance assessments in science. I have worked with teachers and students in a wide range of educational settings, including middle, high school and undergraduate gateway courses in science. I am a co-author of award-winning NGSS-aligned curriculum materials for high school called “Interactions”. My research with Dr. Wieman focuses on designing approaches to support mathematical sense-making in science using PhET simulations across various STEM disciplines and educational levels.
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Renata Kallosh
Stanford W. Ascherman, MD Professor, Emerita
BioWhat is the mathematical structure of supergravity/string theory and its relation to cosmology?
Professor Kallosh works on the general structure of supergravity and string theory and their applications to cosmology. Her main interests are related to the models early universe inflation and dark energy in string theory. She develops string theory models explaining the origin of the universe and its current acceleration. With her collaborators, she has recently constructed de Sitter supergravity, which is most suitable for studies of inflation and dark energy and spontaneously broken supersymmetry.
She is analyzing possible consequences of the expected new data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the results of current and future cosmological observations, including Planck satellite CMB data. These results may affect the relationship between superstring theory and supergravity, and the real world. Professor Kallosh works, in particular, on future tests of string theory by CMB data and effective supergravity models with flexible amplitude of gravitational waves produced during inflation. -
Matthew Kanan
Professor of Chemistry
BioAssociate Professor of Chemistry Matthew Kanan develops new catalysts and chemical reactions for applications in renewable energy conversion and CO2 utilization. His group at Stanford University has recently developed a novel method to create plastic from carbon dioxide and inedible plant material rather than petroleum products, and pioneered the study of “defect-rich” heterogeneous electro-catalysts for converting carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to liquid fuel.
Matthew Kanan completed undergraduate study in chemistry at Rice University (B.A. 2000 Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). During doctoral research in organic chemistry at Harvard University (Ph.D. 2005), he developed a novel method for using DNA to discover new chemical reactions. He then moved into inorganic chemistry for his postdoctoral studies as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he discovered a water oxidation catalyst that operates in neutral water. He joined the Stanford Chemistry Department faculty in 2009 to continue research into energy-related catalysis and reactions. His research and teaching have already been recognized in selection as one of Chemistry & Engineering News’ first annual Talented 12, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Eli Lilly New Faculty Award, and recognition as a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Environmental Mentor, among other honors.
The Kanan Lab addresses fundamental challenges in catalysis and synthesis with an emphasis on enabling new technologies for scalable CO2 utilization. The interdisciplinary effort spans organic synthesis, materials chemistry and electrochemistry.
One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is to transition to an energy economy with ultra-low greenhouse gas emissions without compromising quality of life for a growing population. The Kanan Lab aims to help enable this transition by developing catalysts and chemical reactions that recycle CO2 into fuels and commodity chemicals using renewable energy sources. To be implemented on a substantial scale, these methods must ultimately be competitive with fossil fuels and petrochemicals. With this requirement in mind, the group focuses on the fundamental chemical challenge of making carbon–carbon (C–C) bonds because multi-carbon compounds have higher energy density, greater value, and more diverse applications that one-carbon compounds. Both electrochemical and chemical methods are being pursued. For electrochemical conversion, the group studies how defects known as grain boundaries can be exploited to improve CO2/CO electro-reduction catalysis. Recent work has unveiled quantitative correlations between grain boundaries and catalytic activity, establishing a new design principle for electrocatalysis, and developed grain boundary-rich copper catalysts with unparalleled activity for converting carbon monoxide to liquid fuel. For chemical CO2 conversion, the group is developing C–H carboxylation and CO2 hydrogenation reactions that are promoted by simple carbonate salts. These reactions provide a way to make C–C bonds between un-activated substrates and CO2 without resorting to energy-intensive and hazardous reagents. Among numerous applications, carbonate-promoted carboxylation enables the synthesis of a monomer used to make polyester plastic from CO2 and a feedstock derived from agricultural waste.
In addition to CO2 chemistry, the Kanan group is pursuing new strategies to control selectivity in molecular catalysis for fine chemical synthesis. Of particular interest in the use of electrostatic interactions to discriminate between competing reaction pathways based on their charge distributions. This effort uses ion pairing or interfaces to control the local electrostatic environment in which a reaction takes place. The group has recently shown that local electric fields can control regioselectivity in isomerization reactions catalyzed by gold complexes. -
Roanne Kantor
Assistant Professor of English
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGlobal Anglophone literature and its relationship to other literary traditions of the Global South. The conditions for interdisciplinary research in the humanities, especially literature's relationship with medicine and the social sciences.
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Aharon Kapitulnik
Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Physics
BioAharon Kapitulnik is the Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professor in Applied Physics at the Departments of Applied Physics and Physics at Stanford University. His research focuses on experimental condensed matter physics, while opportunistically, also apply his methods to tabletop experimental studies of fundamental phenomena in physics. His recent studies cover a broad spectrum of phenomena associated with the behavior of correlated and disordered electron systems, particularly in reduced dimensions, and the development of effective instrumentation to detect subtle signatures of physical phenomena.
Among other recognitions, his activities earned him the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1986-90), a Presidential Young Investigator Award (1987-92), a Sackler Scholar at Tel-Aviv University (2006), the Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Prize for Superconductivity Experiment (2009), a RTRA (Le Triangle de la Physique) Senior Chair (2010), and the Oliver Buckley Condensed Matter Prize of the American Physical Society (2015). Aharon Kapitulnik is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Kapitulnik holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Tel-Aviv University (1984). -
Jarosław Kapuściński
Associate Professor of Music
BioJarosław Kapuściński is an intermedia composer and pianist born in Poland. He studied piano and composition at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and furthered his education in multimedia and intermedia art during doctoral studies at the University of California, San Diego, and a residency at Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.
Kapuściński presented his works at numerous gallery and concert venues worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, National Arts Centre in Canada, EMPAC, ZKM and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. He has also received awards for his intermedia art at the UNESCO Film sur l'Art Festival in Paris, the VideoArt Festival in Locarno, and the International Festival of New Cinema and New Media in Montréal.
Apart from his career as a composer and performer, Kapuściński is also an educator. He has lectured internationally and held positions at institutions such as McGill University in Montreal and the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Composition at Stanford University. -
Faisal Karimi
Graduate, Communication
BioFaisal Karimi is a John. S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. He is the founder and director of the Afghanistan Institute for Research and Media Studies (AIRMS), which includes the Afghanistan Women's News Agency (AWNA), a multimedia news platform to cover women's issues in that country, and Kaashi Media. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of both of those organizations. In 2021, after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and increasing threats to journalists, Karimi helped employees of his women's news agency — a team of female journalists and producers — escape to the U.S. and Canada. He continues to run his organization in exile, reflecting the voices of Afghanistani women and providing much-needed information and news to people in Afghanistan.
Before joining Stanford University, Karimi was a visiting scholar at San José State University Human Rights Institute from April 2022 to May 2023; he was researching journalism under Taliban rule. Prior to the Taliban takeover, he also taught in the School of Journalism and Communication at his alma mater, Herat University in western Afghanistan, as a tenure-track faculty member for 12 years. During his 22 years of experience in journalism industry and academia, Faisal Karimi worked as a social media lead researcher at Internews Network, Asia and Pacific regional coordinator at Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), chief editor of People's Radio, IWPR regional coordinator, vice president of Afghanistan's Journalists Center (AFJC), consultant at Equal Access International, journalism adjunct faculty at Kashkeshan-e-Sharq and Hariwa Universities and TOLONews multimedia journalist. He earned a B.A. in Journalism from Herat University, a Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication, a specialty in New Media Studies from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, and a one-year certificate program in journalism and curriculum development from San Jose States University in the United States. -
Terry Karl
Gildred Professor in Latin American Studies, Emerita
BioGildred Professor of Political Science and Latin American Studies (Emeritus)
Bass All-University Fellow for Excellence in Teaching (Emeritus)
International War Crimes and Human Rights Investigator
Terry Lynn Karl earned her Ph.D. (with distinction) from Stanford University. After serving on the faculty in the Government Department of Harvard University, she joined Stanford University’s Department of Political Science in 1987. She served as director of the Center for Latin American Studies for twelve years when it was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a “center of excellence.” She currently works as a war crimes/human rights investigator/ expert witness for several judicial systems: the U.S. (Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security/War Crimes Division), Spain, El Salvador, Colombia, and elsewhere, and non-governmental organizations.
An expert in international and comparative politics, Karl has conducted field research, held visiting appointments, or led workshops on oil politics and extractive resources, democratization and/or human rights throughout Latin America, West Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. She has published widely, with special emphasis on the politics of oil-exporting countries and conflict, transitions from authoritarian rule, problems of democratization, South American and Central America politics, the politics of inequality, U.S. foreign policy, and the resolution of civil wars. A multilingual scholar, her work has been translated into at least 25 languages.
Honors for Research and Teaching: Karl was awarded the Latin American Studies Guillermo O’Donnell Prize in March 2023 for her work on democratization and human rights. She previously received a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from the University of San Francisco and the Miriam Roland Volunteer Service Prize from Stanford University for her “exceptional commitment to public service in the cause of human rights and social justice.” The Latin American Studies Association awarded her the Oxfam Martin Diskin Prize in Toronto in 2010 for “excellence in combining scholarship and policy activism.” Karl has won all of Stanford’s major teaching awards offered during her tenure: the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (1989), the Stanford Medal for Faculty Excellence Fostering Undergraduate Research (1994), and the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching (1997), which is the University's highest academic prize. At Harvard, she was chosen as Radcliffe’s “mentor of the year.” She has been recognized for “exceptional teaching throughout her career,” resulting in her permanent appointment as a Stanford Bass All-University Fellow and the Gildred Chair in Latin American Studies. As an untenured professor in 1982, Karl is also known as the first woman to charge a major university with protecting sexual harassers and regain her career, resulting in an apology by Harvard’s President Bacow four decades later and a forthcoming Harvard honor.
Recent Media: Karl has most recently appeared (2020-22) in the Washington Post, Forbes, Politico, Slate, New York Times, NBC, BBC, NPR, Newsweek, Fox News, USA Today, , the Guardian, El Faro, El Comercio, La Prensa Grafica, El Mundo, El Pais, El Nuevo Herald, Just Security, the Conversation, The Council of Foreign Relations, This Day Live, Analitica, El Impulso, Jewish News in Northern California, and the Chronicle of Higher Education on issues ranging from crimes against humanity to the politics of oil to combating sexual harassment. -
Hemamala Karunadasa
Professor of Chemistry
On Leave from 10/01/2024 To 12/31/2024BioProfessor Hema Karunadasa works with colleagues in materials science, earth science, and applied physics to drive the discovery of new materials with applications in clean energy. Using the tools of synthetic chemistry, her group designs materials that couple the structural tunability of organic molecules with the diverse electronic and optical properties of extended inorganic solids. This research targets materials such as sorbents for capturing environmental pollutants, phosphors for solid-state lighting, and absorbers for solar cells.
Hemamala Karunadasa studied chemistry and materials science at Princeton University (A.B. with high honors 2003; Certificate in Materials Science and Engineering 2003), where her undergraduate thesis project with Professor Robert J. Cava examined geometric magnetic frustration in metal oxides. She moved from solid-state chemistry to solution-state chemistry for her doctoral studies in inorganic chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 2009) with Professor Jeffrey R. Long. Her thesis focused on heavy atom building units for magnetic molecules and molecular catalysts for generating hydrogen from water. She continued to study molecular electrocatalysts for water splitting during postdoctoral research with Berkeley Professors Christopher J. Chang and Jeffrey R. Long at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. She further explored molecular catalysts for hydrocarbon oxidation as a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Harry B. Gray. She joined the Stanford Chemistry Department faculty in September 2012. Her research explores solution-state routes to new solid-state materials.
Professor Karunadasa’s lab at Stanford takes a molecular approach to extended solids. Lab members gain expertise in solution- and solid-state synthetic techniques and structure determination through powder- and single-crystal x-ray diffraction. Lab tools also include a host of spectroscopic and electrochemical probes, imaging methods, and film deposition techniques. Group members further characterize their materials under extreme environments and in operating devices to tune new materials for diverse applications in renewable energy.
Please visit the lab website for more details and recent news.