Michael Hochella elected to National Academy of Sciences
Newly elected scientist is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the College of Science’s Department of Geosciences.
Michael Hochella '75, M.S. '77, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, was elected Tuesday, May 5, as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Hochella is among 120 members and 25 international members newly recognized for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. He joins Robert J. Bodnar, Shuhai Xiao, and Patricia Dove to become the fourth Virginia Tech geoscientist elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
“The growing ranks of Virginia Tech scientists in the National Academy affirms our advancement as a global research university and our collective dedication to discoveries that make a difference,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “Congratulations to Michael for this well-deserved recognition that exemplifies the quality of our faculty and global impact of our research.”
Hochella was named University Distinguished Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in 2007, and the emeritus version of the same title in 2019. He also served as a research scientist and laboratory fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, from 2017 until last year. At present, Hochella retains a research appointment with the College of Science and continues to publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed literature with groups from around the world.
Hochella’s research sits at the intersection of nanoscience and environmental geochemistry. He studies very small things that can impact the health of the planet and the health of humans.
In one internationally recognized scientific discovery that spanned 2014-19, Hochella was the co-discoverer of titanium suboxide nanoparticles that form through coal burning in power plants.
Working with Professor Irving Allen at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Hochella’s findings showed that this material has serious detrimental effects on living organisms, including humans. With Professor Yi Yang at East China Normal University in Shanghai, Hochella was able to demonstrate that these nanoparticles can be found worldwide due to many decades of high levels of coal burning.
As a result of this work, Hochella was awarded the Clair C. Patterson Award, the highest honor in environmental geochemistry from the Geochemical Society.
In his more recent work, Hochella has investigated a synthetic mineral-like nanoparticle that has the potential to remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year to begin to stabilize global warming. This work was first published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology in late 2022 in collaboration with Professor Peyman Babakhani at the University of Manchester, England.
Hochella’s honors also include additional scientific medals from the American Chemical Society and the Mineralogical Society of America, the 2016 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, as well as fellowships in eight scientific societies from around the world.
Hochella has served on high-level advisory boards at the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. He also has served as president of both the Geochemistry Society and the Mineralogical Society of America.
He founded and served as the first director of NanoEarth, a National Science Foundation-funded National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology that is part of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science. He also was a founding faculty member of the College of Science’s Academy on Integrated Science, helping spearhead the inception of the Integrated Science Curriculum, which offers undergraduate degrees in nanoscience.
Hochella earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech in 1975 and 1977 and a doctorate from Stanford University in 1981.
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