Walker Smith

Walker Smith, from Knoxville, Tennessee, is pursuing a PhD in computer-based music theory and acoustics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. He earned dual bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and music composition from Indiana University Bloomington. As a “musical chemist,” he creates educational multimedia performances that merge music and science, including “The Sound of Molecules,” which he has performed for thousands across the United States and Europe. As part of a Fulbright scholarship in the Netherlands, he developed the Interactive Musical Periodic Table, a project featured at a meeting of the American Chemical Society and by more than 50 international news outlets. His research and performance practice explore the scientific, educational, and musical possibilities of turning the periodic table into a musical instrument and making molecular music. Walker is a Goldwater Scholar and a recipient of Indiana University’s Herman B Wells Scholarship.