Melvin P. Klein (1921-2000) was a world renown biophysicist at LBNL and the University of California Berkeley Chemistry Department. Mel applied experimental techniques to biological problems, and he was a long time EXAFS user of SSRL who devised the fluorescence detection technique for his group’s dilute samples. At the time of his death, Mel was actively pursuing research into the oxygen-evolving system in plants -- the source of the world's oxygen supply -- a field to which he had made fundamental contributions.
In 2006 with generous donations from Mel's friends and colleagues, SSRL and the SSRL Users' Executive Committee (SSRL UEC) established the Melvin P. Klein Scientific Development Award to honor Mel's pioneering accomplishments as well as recognize outstanding accomplishments by new investigators and help them to disseminate their SSRL research results.
From 2006 through 2023, the $1,000 Klein Award was presented to the following individuals:
- Ashley James, University of Saskatchewan (2023)
- Chengcheng Fan, California Institute of Technology (2022)
- Aisulu Aitbekova, Stanford University (2021)
- Kelly L. Summers, University of Saskatchewan (2020)
- Xinru Wang, University of Arizona/Brown University (2019)
- Chuntian Cao, Stanford Unviersity (2018)
- Suhas Kumar, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (2017)
- Trevor Petach, Stanford University (2016)
- Roopali Kukreja, University of California San Diego (2015)
- Chris Pollock, Penn State University (2014)
- Gaurav Giri, Stanford/Cornell University (2013)
- Tim Miller, Stanford University (2012)
- Jonathan Rivnay, Stanford/Centre Microelectronique de Provence (2011)
- Diling Zhu, Stanford University (2010)
- Leslie Jimison, Stanford University (2009)
- Ajay Virkar, Stanford University (2008)
- Jessica Vey, MIT (2007)
- William Schlotter, SLAC (2006)
All funds donated for the Klein Award were expended, and the last Klein Award was presented in September 2023 at the joint SSRL/LCLS Annual Users' Conference held at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
Donations for the Melvin P. Klein Scientific Development Award were made payable to "Stanford University" Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, SSRL Business Office, 2575 Sand Hill Road MS 69, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Alternatively, donations by credit card or electronic transfer (recurring or one-time payments) can be arranged by contacting 866-543-0243 (toll free) Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST. Please specify that gifts are designated for "The SSRL Melvin Klein Award." Callers from outside the US, please phone 650-724-0627 (not toll free).
