He completed his B.S in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984, with the University Certificate of Distinction and Department Citation for Highest Honors. He was advised by Ken Sauer, Wilhelm Maier, and Richard J. Saykally. He did his graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley in the laboratory of Richard J. Saykally, where he was a University Fellow, IBM Predoctoral Fellow,, and a Dow Chemical Graduate Fellow. Subsequently he held a postdoctoral position with Ahmed Zewail at California Institute of Technology, after which he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1992.
Current positions
Dr. Gruebele is Head of Chemistry and James R. Eiszner Endowed Chair in Chemistry, Professor of Physics, and Professor of Biophysics and Quantitative Biology. He is a Professor in the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois. He also is a faculty member of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, and Adjunct Professor of Physics at Michigan State University.
Research
His research covers a wide range of areas in chemical and biological physics, including the kinetics of biological systems, quantum dynamics of energy flow within molecules, and optically assisted scanning tunneling microscopy. A common theme of his research is the implementation of state-of-the-art laser and microscopy techniques to interrogate and manipulate complex systems, coupled with quantum or classical simulations. He has published more than 250 articles on topics ranging from quantum computation, to RNA and protein folding in the test tube and inside cells, to fish swimming behavioral studies.
A sub-microsecond pressure jump technique to study fast protein refolding and helped guide computer simulations for how proteins fold.
With Martina Havenith, Terahertz Absorption Spectroscopy elucidating for the first time the role of water as a designer fluid that helps proteins change shape.
Two-state dynamics recorded in glassy silicon for the first time using high-resolution imaging technology, to confirmed the glass-like nature of amorphous silicon.
SMA-STM, a technique that can image excited state orbitals of nanostructures with sub-nanometer resolution by combining laser absorption spectroscopy with STM.
With Stephen Boppart, non-linear interferometric vibrational imaging which produces easy-to-read, color-coded images of tissue, outlining clear tumor boundaries with more than 99% confidence.
Gruebele is an active collaborator with Hanoi University of Science to port University of Illinois Department of Chemistry undergraduate curriculum for Science in Vietnam. Recently, he has been on the list of "Teachers Ranked Excellent by their Students" at Illinois, and received the Teaching Excellence Award twice.
Personal
Gruebele is married to Nancy Makri, who is also a Professor of Chemistry and Physics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They have two children, Alexander and Valerie. He has a keen interest in cycling, running and triathlon and has competed in many ultra-distance events, such as the 2013 Boston Marathon, the 2016 solo Race Across America,, the 2019 Badwater Ultramarathon and the 2019 Ironman Hawaii World Championship. He has written a how-to book on ultraracing.
