Shanhui Fan

Shanhui Fan is the Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, holding joint appointments in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics (by courtesy). He is a Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and former Director of the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory (2014–2021). His research focuses on nanophotonics, including photonic crystals, metamaterials, and their applications in energy and information technologies.

Education: PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics from MIT (1997), BS in Physics from University of Science and Technology of China (1992).

Research Interests: Fan investigates fundamental nanophotonic structures and their applications. Key areas include radiative cooling systems, quantum optics with free electrons, and topological photonics. His work bridges theoretical and applied photonics, with contributions to energy-efficient materials and optical devices.

Awards: Member of NAS (2025) and NAE (2024), R. W. Wood Prize (2022), Vannevar Bush Fellowship (2017), Fellowships from IEEE, APS, Optica, and SPIE.

Advising & Grants: Advised numerous PhD students and postdocs. Active in grants related to energy technologies and photonics. Collaborates with companies like Skycool Systems and Flexcompute.

Labs & Teams: Leads research at the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory and collaborates on projects involving metamaterials, radiative cooling, and quantum optics.