Shanhui Fan

Shanhui Fan is the Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman Professor of the School of Engineering at Stanford University, with a courtesy appointment in Applied Physics and a Senior Fellowship at the Precourt Institute for Energy. He directs the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory and holds a Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics from MIT. His research focuses on nanophotonics, including photonic crystals, metamaterials, quantum optics, and radiative cooling technologies. He has published over 700 papers and holds 80+ patents, with awards including the R. W. Wood Prize and membership in the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering.

• Education: B.Sc. (Physics, 1992) University of Science and Technology of China; Ph.D. (Physics, 1997) MIT.
• Affiliations: Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University.
• Research Highlights: Radiative cooling systems (e.g., subambient cooling), photonic synthetic dimensions, quantum optics with free electrons, and energy-efficient materials.

His work bridges theoretical and experimental photonics, with applications in renewable energy, imaging, and quantum technologies. Recent advancements include nighttime electric power generation via radiative cooling and nonreciprocal metasurface devices. He advises over 20 graduate students and postdocs, contributing to breakthroughs in photonics and energy systems.

Awards & Honors:

• R. W. Wood Prize (Optica, 2022)
• Simons Investigator in Physics (2021)
• Member, National Academy of Sciences (2025)
• Member, National Academy of Engineering (2024)

Grants & Teams: Leads the Light-Matters Initiative (LMI EFRC) and co-founded Skycool Systems and Flexcompute. His lab collaborates on radiative cooling textiles and photonic neural networks.