I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Dr. Robert Hull as Vice President for Research, effective February 1, 2023.  

Dr. Hull has served as Acting Vice President for Research since March 2020. Dr. Hull joined Rensselaer in January 2008 as Professor, Department Head for Materials Science and Engineering, and the Henry Burlage Jr. Professor of Engineering. He continues to serve as director of the Rensselaer Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems (cMDIS), where he has led basic and applied research initiatives across a broad spectrum of fields in engineering, and the physical and chemical sciences. 

Prior to his tenure at Rensselaer, Dr. Hull spent a decade at Bell Laboratories in the Physics Research Division and a decade at the University of Virginia, where he was director of a National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and director of the UVA Institute for Nanoscale and Quantum Science. Dr. Hull is known internationally for his research into fundamental mechanisms of semiconductor materials and devices, the self-assembly of nanostructures, and the kinetics of materials processes at the nanoscale.  

His current research focuses on developing new nanoscale assembly, fabrication, and characterization techniques using focused ion and electron beams applied to a broad range of materials systems. He has published approximately 300 journal and conference papers; edited many books and proceedings; given approximately 300 keynotes and invited talks or seminars at national and international conferences, workshops, universities, and government and industrial laboratories. 

Dr. Hull has been a member of many academic, editorial, and advisory boards. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society (MRS). He has served as MRS president and chair of the University Materials Council. He has participated in multiple national committees and studies, including serving as the chair of a Committee of Visitors for the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation and as a member of a committee reviewing the National Nanotechnology Initiative, organized by the National Academies. 

Dr. Hull received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Oxford University in 1980 and his doctoral degree in materials science from Oxford in 1983. 

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Hull as Vice President for Research.