Shuji Nakamura received three degrees from the university of Tokushima: his Bachelors and Masters of Electronic Engineering in 1977 and 1979 respectively, and his Doctorate of Engineering in 1994. From 1983 to 1999, he worked for the Nichia Chemical Corporation, Ltd. beginning as a researcher in the Research and Development Department, and ending his tenure as Senior Researcher. In 1999, he joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara as a Professor in the Materials Department.
Nakamura is best known as the creator of blue and green LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) and the blue laser, as well as for his work with semiconducting gallium-nitride. The long-term outcome of his research and work will result in new lighting systems, which may replace the commonly used incandescent light bulbs (invented by Thomas Edison in 1878).
Nakamura has received the Nikkei BP Engineering Award, Sakurai Awards, Nishina Memorial Award, IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Engineering Achievement Award, Materials Research Society Medal Awards, British Rank Prize, Julius-Springer Prize for Applied Physics, and the Asahi Award. He holds eighty Japanese and ten U.S. patents.
Information as of April 2002