Sanford A. Asher Credit:
Courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh
Sanford A. Asher, 78, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died Jan. 16, 2026.
“Sandy made seminal contributions to ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy, advancing its use in probing protein structure and conformation, with far-reaching impact—including applications in the search for signs of life on Mars. He also pioneered work on crystalline colloidal assemblies for optical sensing, switching, and display technologies. He authored over 330 publications and holds 30 patents. His honors include the Raman Lifetime Award (International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy), the Distinguished Alumni Award (University of Missouri–St. Louis), and the American Chemical Society Analytical Division Spectrochemical Analysis Award.”—Haitao Liu, colleague
Most recent title: Distinguished professor of chemistry, University of Pittsburgh
Education: BA, chemistry, University of Missouri–St. Louis, 1971; PhD, chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1977
Survivors: Wife, Nancy Day; children, Rachel Silver and David Asher
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2026 American Chemical Society
