Dr. Zare is presently Chair of COSEPUP, the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the three academies, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. He is also the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science and Professor of Physics, Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Harvard University in 1964.

He was elected Chairman of the National Science Board, 1996; member of the National Academy of Sciences, Council, 1995; California Academy of Sciences, Honorary Fellow; and member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Zare's honors and awards include the Welch Award in Chemistry for his lifetime achievements in physical and analytical chemistry, 1999; the Allan V. Cox Medal for Faculty Excellence Fostering Undergraduate Research, Stanford, 1997; the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award, 1997; the 1997 California Scientist of the Year; the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences, 1991, for "pioneering laser-based techniques, deep insights, and seminal contributions, which have influenced every facet of chemical reaction dynamics"; the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching, Stanford, 1987; the National Medal of Science, 1983; the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society (2010); the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category (2010); and the King Faisal International Prize in Science (2011).