Mostafa El-Sayed
Mostafa El-Sayed is a US-based Egyptian chemist whose breakthroughs in nanoscience and spectroscopy reshaped modern physical chemistry. Known for the El-Sayed Rule and pioneering plasmonic gold nanoparticles, his lab’s insights power applications from catalysis to photothermal cancer therapy. A generous mentor, he’s elevated generations of scientists across continents.
Mostafa El-Sayed EOTW #4 (21 October 2025)
El-Sayed’s career shows how deep physics meets real-world impact. Beginning with ultrafast spectroscopy and photophysics, he formulated the widely cited El-Sayed Rule describing when molecules efficiently cross between spin states.
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Later, his group helped popularize plasmonic gold nanorods and nanoshells, showing how their oscillating electrons convert light into heat and enhance chemical reactivity. Those principles underpin emerging cancer treatments that ablate tumors with targeted light, as well as greener catalysis and sensitive optical sensors.
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Beyond the papers, he is renowned for mentoring diverse cohorts and for building scientific bridges between the United States, Egypt, and the wider world. His story is about curiosity, persistence, and turning elegant theory into tools that improve lives—and how diaspora scientists multiply impact through collaboration.