Paul Alivisatos was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Greek family, where he lived until the age of 10, when his family moved to Athens, Greece. Alivisatos has said of his years in Greece that it was a great experience for him because he had to learn the Greek language and culture then catch up with the more advanced students. "When I found something very interesting it was sometimes a struggle for me to understand it the very best that I could," he has said of that experience. "That need to work harder became an important motivator for me." Alivisatos returned to the United States to attend the University of Chicago in the late 1970s.
In 1981, Alivisatos earned a B.A. with honors in chemistry from the University of Chicago. In 1986, he received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked under Charles Harris. His Ph.D. thesis concerned the photophysics of electronically excited molecules near metal and semiconductor surfaces. He then joined AT&T Bell Labs working with Louis E. Brus, and began research in the field of nanotechnology.
Alivisatos returned to Berkeley in 1988 as an assistant professor of chemistry, becoming associate professor in 1993 and professor in 1995. He served as Chancellor's Professor from 1998 to 2001, and added an appointment as a professor of materials science and engineering in 1999.
Alivisatos affiliation with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (or Berkeley Lab) began in 1991 when he joined the staff of the Materials Sciences Division. From 2005 to 2007 Alivisatos served as Berkeley Labs Associate Laboratory Director for the Physical Sciences area. In 2008, he served as Deputy Lab Director under Berkeley Lab Director Steven Chu, and then as interim director when Chu stepped down to become the Secretary of Energy. He was named the seventh Director of Berkeley Lab on November 19, 2009, by the University of California Board of Regents on the recommendation of UC President Mark Yudof and with the concurrence of the U.S. Department of Energy. He played a critical role in the establishment of the Molecular Foundry, a U.S. Department of Energys Nanoscale Science Research Center; and was the facilitys founding director.
Energy Secretary, Nobel laureate, and fellow Berkeley alumnus Steven Chu noted that Alivisatos is "an incredible scientist with incredible judgment on a variety of issues. He's level-headed and calm, and he has an ability to inspire people…[and he can] take projects from material science to real-world applications."