Etxenike was the son of a medical doctor, Pedro Etxenike, and a teacher, Felisa Landiribar.[1] Growing up with one brother and one sister in a small navarrese village (with about 800 inhabitants at the time) he later attended a Capuchin boarding school [2] He attended the University of Navarre and graduated in Physics in 1972, receiving the Special Degree Prize and End-of-Studies Award.[3]
In 1973, he began his studies at the University of Cambridge with a March stipend. In 1976, he obtained his Ph.D. (with a thesis directed by John Pendry)[4] and, in 1977, he received[5] a Doctorate in Physics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, for which he received the Special Doctorate Prize.
Etxenike has co-authored over 400 scientific articles.[6] His research has focused on explaining the behaviour of solid bodies and their interaction with beams of charged particles. His work has opened new lines of research and has stimulated innovative theoretical and experimental lines of work in very diverse fields of condensed matter physics such as electron and tunnel microscopy, physical chemistry on the femtosecond scale, electronic surface localization, reverse photo-emission, atomic collisions, the interaction of ions with plasma particles, ion implantation and surface excitations in superfluid helium.[7]
Many works, starting with his PhD thesis in Cambridge study the interaction of electrons, atoms, and ions with surfaces. An important concept introduced and developed by Etxenike are image-potential states at metal surfaces [8] in which electrons can be trapped in the potential of their own image charge. Etxenike and co-workers computed and analyzed these states for many different materials and surfaces as well as their interaction with surface excitations such as surface plasmons, surface plasmon polaritons, and surface phonons. Etxenike is co-author of a highly cited review on the theory of surface plasmons.[9]
They analyzed theoretically the technique of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in order to interpret STM images and, in particular, relate them to the topography of the studied surfaces and to the spectroscopy of surface states ("scanning tunneling spectroscopy").[10]
Etxenike has directed 27 PhD theses.[3]
He has been very active in recent years, giving numerous lectures in different university, cultural and business forums, at which he has always defended the cultural value of scientific activity and encouraged young people to pursue science.[11] He co-organized outreach activities such as since 2010 the triennial festival "Passion for Knowledge" in San Sebastián.[12]
A.L. Cavalieri; N. Müller; Th. Uphues; V.S. Yakovlev; A. Baltuška; B. Horvath; B. Schmidt; L. Blümel; R. Holzwarth; S. Hendel; M. Drescher; U. Kleineberg; P.M. Echenique; R. Kienberger; F. Krausz; U. Heinzmann (2007). "Attosecond spectroscopy in condensed matter". Nature. 449 (7165): 1029–1032. Bibcode:2007Natur.449.1029C. doi:10.1038/nature06229. PMID17960239. S2CID4341749.
He received many honours in the Basque Country and Navarre, among them the Premio Vasco Universal by the Basque Government (1999),[18] the gold medals of UPV/EHU (1998), of San Sebastián (2000), of Gipuzkoa (2010), and of Navarre (2016), and he is "favoured son" (Hijo Predilecto) of his native town Isaba (1998).[3]
In 1980 he gave up his professorship in Barcelona to join the first government of the Basque Autonomous Community after the Francoist dictatorship. In the government of Carlos Garaikoetxea he first served as Minister of Education and in 1983 he became Minister of Education and Culture and Spokesman for the Government until the end of the legislative period in 1984. One of the milestones in this legislative period was the law on the normalisation of the use of Basque, for which Etxenike was the driving force and proponent. These early years of the Department of Education were also crucial in putting in place most of the foundations in the education system of the Basque Autonomous Community, including freedom of education. The setting up of R&D centres and the internationalization of study scholarships were also promoted. [citation needed]
After leaving government politics, Etxenike continues to play an important role in the science policy of the Basque country. He was central in founding and leading a number of centers, agencies, and initiatives that are now leading research institutions in the Basque country. He is the founder and first president of Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), founded in 1999. He was a promoter and creator of the mixed CSIC-UPV/EHU centre, the Centre for Materials Physics (CFM) and was its first director (1999-2001) and is still president of the Materials Physics Center associated with CFM.[22] He played a similar role for the Cooperative Research Centre CIC nanoGUNE (founded 2009)[23] and was until 2019 chairman of its Governing Board.[24]
In 2007, he was among the founders of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of the Basque Country Jakiunde and served as its first president until 2012. He then was named Honorary Chairman.[25]
Other positions held include membership of the governing board of the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) (2001-2007), deputy chairperson of the board of the franco-spanish Euskampus Foundation,[26] and vice-chairmanship of the innovation agency of the Basque government, Innobasque (2008-2012). Since 2012 he chairs the panel of judges of the Princess-of-Asturias-Prize for Scientific and Technical Research.[3]
