Robert J. Baseman earned BS degrees in mathematics and chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry, as a Hertz Foundation fellow, from the University of California, Berkeley, working with Nobel laurate Yuan T. Lee. He is currently a Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM Research leading the development of advanced analytical applications improving productivity and quality control for microelectronic manufacturing and development. His research at IBM has spanned technical fields including laser-material interactions, thin film deposition processes, detection of trace contaminants, and experimental economics. He has authored or co-authored more than 90 technical publications and conference presentations, 20 US Patents and 10 published inventions. Accounts of his work have appeared in publications including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Scientific American.