Paul K. Hansma

Paul K. Hansma was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 28, 1946.^[2] He received his undergraduate degree from New College of Florida, and his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley where he studied electron tunneling and Josephson junctions.^[3]

Hansma became an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1974. He then became an associate professor three years later.^[4] In the 1970s, Hansma began working in electron tunneling spectroscopy, and moved to STM-based experiments by the early 1980s.^[5] This included biological STM as of 1985, when he adapted his STM microscopes to work in water (previously STMs would only work in air).^[6]

Over the 1980s, Hansma worked in conjunction with IBM Zurich, researching the use of probe microscopy and its use in a variety of different fields.^[7] As a part of this work, he co-developed three scanning tunneling microscopes for the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[8] In the late 1980s,^[9] Hansma then worked on the development of atomic force microscopes and their use in research.^[10] This included the use of AFMs in genetic research, using them to observe DNA and RNA molecules in manner that did not disturb their natural interactions during the late 1990s.^[11]

In 1991, Hansma researched the process of corrosion in infrastructure and other places like car batteries, and looked at the role the type of electrolyte involved has on the corrosion’s progress.^[12] In 2005 Hansma’s discovered the existence of a biopolymer in human bones that provides a “glue” like function, correlatively strengthening or weakening the bone.^[13][14] Around this time he also began to develop high-speed scanning AFMs.^[15] During his research into bone glue, Hansma developed the OsteoProbe,^[16][17] and also spent time researching the use of natural adhesives to create optimized adhesives for other applications.^[18] He is also the developer of Reference Point Indentation, which tests bone quality.^[19][20] He is also the inventor of Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy.^[21]

Hansma is the namesake of the Paul Hansma Research Group at the Department of Physics of the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[22] In 1964 he was named a Presidential Scholar by President Lyndon Johnson.^[23] He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was the 2000 recipient of the Max Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics.^[3]