Andreas Albrecht received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950. He then earned his Ph.D. degree, also in chemistry, from the University of Washington in 1954. He also completed postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1956, he began his career at Cornell University, where he would become Professor of Chemistry in 1965.

His career revolved around molecular spectroscopy. He combined theoretical analysis with laboratory experiments, which resulted in a wide range of effects and findings.

He was a Fellow of the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, the American Physical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was a Frontiers in Chemistry Lecturer at Texas A&M University and the Gillespie Lecturer of the Royal Society. He received the 1986 Polychrome Corporation Award, OSA’s 1988 Ellis R. Lippincott Award, and the 1990 Earle K. Plyler Prize.

Albrecht passed away in 2002.