June 23, 2017

Colleagues,

Jihui Yang, incoming UW MSE Chair

I am pleased to announce that Jihui Yang, the Kyocera Professor in MSE, has accepted the position of Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, effective September 1, 2017, subject to the approval of the Provost. Jihui has provided leadership in the department as chair of the undergraduate committee, and brings experience in both academia and industry that will position the department to grow and excel in the coming years.

Jihui’s research focuses on thermoelectric and energy storage materials with an emphasis on the design, synthesis, testing, and understanding of advanced thermoelectric materials and Li-ion battery materials for energy conversion and storage. He has authored 100 papers, holds 19 US patents, and has established strong research funding from DOE/EERE in recent years including the partnership on battery research with PNNL. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has received the Campbell award from GM R&D and the DOE INCITE award.

I appreciate the time and effort of the search committee, François Baneyx (chair, Chemical Engineering), Jun Liu, Christine Luscombe (MSE), Jessie Muhm (Engineering Advancement), Peter Pauzauskie (MSE), Suzie Pun (Bioengineering), and Miquin Zhang (MSE). I would also like to thank all who shared input and opinions with the committee and me during the selection process.

Finally, I would like to thank Fumio Ohuchi, who has very capably led the department as interim chair for the past several months.

Please join me in welcoming Jihui to his new position as Chair of Materials Science & Engineering. I am very confident that Jihui’s leadership will move the department toward even greater success in the years ahead.

Michael B. Bragg, Ph.D.
Frank and Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering
University of Washington