Alexander Pines is the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and Senior Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He grew up in Rhodesia and went to Israel for his undergraduate studies in mathematics and chemistry. In 1972, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics at MIT and joined the faculty at Berkeley. Among his numerous awards and honors, Pines has received the Langmuir Medal of the American Chemical Society and the Faraday Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (London); he is Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Paris and the University of Rome, and past President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance. He was awarded the Wolf Prize for chemistry (together with Richard R. Ernst) in 1991. A renowned educator, Pines has been recognized by numerous teaching honors, including The University of California's Distinguished Teaching Award.

Pines is a pioneer in the development and applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In particular, he is known for his contributions to the development of solid-state NMR in chemistry and materials science. His techniques are also widely used in the study of biological systems. His program is composed of two complementary components. The first is the establishment of new concepts and techniques in NMR and MRI, in order to extend their applicability and enhance their capability to investigate molecular structure and organization from materials to organisms. The study and diagnostic use of nuclear spins interacting with each other and with other degrees of freedom requires the development of novel quantum theoretical and experimental methods, and the design and fabrication of next-generation NMR and MRI equipment. The second component of his research program involves the application of such novel methods, together with programs in collaborating groups and programs at Berkeley and other academic, federal and industrial laboratories, to problems in chemistry, materials science, and biomedicine.

The impact of the program has been substantial. "Seeing is believing"-- novel techniques and devices of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging have expanded our ability to "see" into materials and organisms. Many of the concepts, methodologies and instrumentation emanating from Pines' research continue to be adopted worldwide by research groups in academia, federal laboratories and industry, and are being used to investigate molecular structure and organization from the nanoscale dimensions of catalysts and polymers to the macroscopic proportions of human imaging and oil exploration. In terms of education and training, hundreds of scientists (the self-dubbed "Pinenuts") have passed through the lab, and many now hold leading research and teaching positions worldwide. Many patents have been filed, issued and licensed, with methodologies adapted into modern commercial NMR and MRI instrumentation and related commercial applications.