Chemist’s research advanced energy storage solutions and powered Mars rovers
Sri Narayan, professor of chemistry and scientific director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, whose research transformed fuel cell, battery and sustainability technologies, died on May 24. He was 63.
Narayan was an accomplished scientist, with over 80 journal publications and 50 patents.
“He was an exceedingly good thinker. He could slice through a problem really well,” says G. K. Surya Prakash, George A. and Judith A. Olah Nobel Laureate Chair in Hydrocarbon Chemistry, professor of chemistry and chemical engineering and materials science and Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute director. “He was also tremendously optimistic about everything: life, science, people. His leadership is a great loss to the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.”