Ramsey was recognized for his Lab-on-a-chip research. The process allows for the manipulation of extremely small volumes of fluids for conducting chemical and biochemical research. He received a 1996 R&D 100 Award for his work, representing one of the world's top 100 inventions that year.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation annually grants up to 100 research awards to foreign scholars whose academic qualifications enjoy international recognition. The awards provide funding for extended periods of research of the recipients' own choice at German research institutes.
Nominations for the awards are made by leading German scholars or research institutions. Ramsey was nominated by the Institut fur Spektrochemie und Angewandte Spektroskopie, where he will spend up to 12 months working with German research scientists during the next several years.
Ramsey joined ORNL in 1979 as a Eugene Wigner Fellow. Ramsey in 1981 was named staff scientist before becoming a group leader in 1986. Ramsey is a member of the editorial advisory board of the publication Analytical Chemistry. He is a member of the Optical Society of America, American Chemical Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.
Ramsey earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Bowling Green University and a doctorate in analytical chemistry from Indiana University.
A resident of Farragut, Tenn., Ramsey and his wife, Roswitha, have one son, Christopher Blake.
ORNL is a DOE multiprogram research facility and is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation.
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