Get to Know a Member – Haitao Liu
1. What is your work and ACS (if applicable) title?
ACS: Councilor of ACS Pittsburgh Local Section | Work: Chair and Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh
2. How many years have you been in the ACS?
13
3. What is the biggest benefit of ACS Membership?
Meeting a lot of fantastic people outside my immediate work circle!
4. What did you want to be when you were a child?
I wanted to be a scientist, for real!!
5. What made you fall in love with Chemistry?
I was a very curious kid. My mom had some chemistry books from work. I read them because there was nothing else to read. Chemistry was fascinating to me because I realized that you can use chemistry to create new and transform materials.
6. What is your favorite part of your career or job?
As a university professor, you are surrounded by young students who are eager to learn. You have the rare opportunity to shape their professional growth.
7. What is your favorite book and why?
“But How Do It Know? – The Basic Principles of Computers for Everyone”- I have a computer science BS degree (in addition to Chemistry BS) but I never truly understood how computer works at the gate/transistor level. I bought this book for my son and end up reading it through myself. I finally understood how computer works and how it is built from transistors.