Ho-Kwang Mao


Ho-Kwang Mao is a Chinese-American geologist.He is a scientist at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Biography

Mao was born in Shanghai in 1941. His father, General Mao Sen, was a high-ranking official of the intelligence department of the Republic of China. When Mao was seven-years old, he moved to Taiwan with his family. Mao received his BS from National Taiwan University in 1963. Mao further pursued his studies in the United States, and obtained MS in 1966 and PhD in 1968 from the University of Rochester, New York.
From 1968-1972, Mao did his postdoctoral research at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. From then on Mao has spent his career at Geophysical Laboratory as a Senior Staff scientist.

Research

Mao is one of the most prolific users of the diamond anvil cell for research at high pressures. Although at the time the claim was controversial, his work with Peter M. Bell is now generally accepted as being the first verified static pressure in excess of 1 Megabar.
In 1987, Mao and a colleague at the Geophysical Laboratory, Robert Hazen, identified the composition and structure of the first high-temperature superconductor to have a critical temperature above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen.

Honors & awards