Director of the California Nanosystems Institute

April 4, 2013

I am pleased to announce that Prof. Craig Hawker, FRS, has agreed to become the Scientific Director of the California Nanosystems Institute, effective April 1, 2013, replacing Prof. David Awschalom who has left UC Santa Barbara for a position at the University of Chicago.

Prof. Hawker, is the Alan and Ruth Heeger Chair of Interdisciplinary Science and a Professor in the Materials, Chemistry and Biochemistry departments at UCSB. He is currently Director of the Materials Research Laboratory and founding Director of the Dow Materials Institute. Professor Hawker’s research activities focus on synthetic polymer chemistry and nanotechnology, integrating fundamental studies with the development of nanostructured materials for advanced properties and functions in microelectronics and biotechnology. Craig has received a number of awards for his work including the 2013 American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry, the 2012 Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry, an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2011) and the DSM: International Performance Materials Award in 2010. Professor Hawker has been honored with election to the Royal Society as well as being named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

I am delighted that Prof. Hawker has agreed to this new position and we look forward to working with him to continue to advance the California Nanosystems Institute.

Prof. Hawker will not entirely give up the leadership of the Materials Research Laboratory, but will share it, as co-Director with Prof. Ram Seshadri. Prof. Seshadri joined the Materials Department at UC Santa Barbara in 2002, and has been Professor of Materials, and Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 2008. His research on structure – composition -– property relations in functional inorganic materials focuses on polar, magnetic, optical, electronic, and catalytic applications of new materials. Recognitions of Ram’s contributions include the ExxonMobil Award of the American Chemical Society in 2005, and induction into the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2010.

Please welcome both Prof. Hawker and Prof. Seshadri into these new posts.

Gene Lucas

Executive Vice Chancellor