Dan Shechtman (born January 24, 1941 in Tel Aviv) was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "the discovery of quasicrystals". On April 8, 1982, while on sabbatical at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., Shechtman discovered the icosahedral phase, which opened the new field of quasiperiodic crystals.

Shechtman experienced several years of hostility toward his non-periodic interpretation before others began to confirm and accept it. Through Shechtman's discovery, several other groups were able to form similar quasicrystals, finding these materials to have low thermal and electrical conductivity, while possessing high structural stability. Quasicrystals have also been found naturally. Quasicrystalline materials could be used in a large number of applications, including the formation of durable steel used for fine instrumentation, and non-stick insulation for electrical wires and cooking equipment. For this discovery, Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011.

Prof. Shechtman was an NRC fellow at the Aerospace Research Laboratories at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, after receiving his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the Technion in 1972, where he also obtained his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering in 1966 and M.Sc. in Materials Engineering in 1968.
In 1975 he joined the department of materials engineering at Technion.
In 1981–1983 he was on Sabbatical at Johns Hopkins University, where he studied rapidly solidified aluminum transition metal alloys, in a joint program with NBS. During this study he discovered the Icosahedral Phase which opened the new field of quasiperiodic crystals.
In 1992–1994 he was on sabbatical at National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he studied the effect of the defect structure of CVD diamond on its growth and properties.
Shechtman joined the Iowa State faculty in 2004. He currently spends about five months a year in Ames on a part-time appointment.

Awards and honors:
2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "the discovery of quasicrystals".
2008 European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) 25th Anniversary Award.
2002 EMET Prize in Chemistry.
2000 Muriel & David Jacknow Technion Award for Excellence in Teaching.
2000 Gregori Aminoff Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
1999 Wolf Prize in Physics.
1998 Israel Prize, for Physics.
1993 Weizmann Science Award.
1990 Rothschild Prize in Engineering.
1988 New England Academic Award of the Technion.
1988 International Award for New Materials of the American Physical Society.
1986 Physics Award of the Friedenberg Fund for the Advancement of Science and Education.