Elsa Reichmanis, an acclaimed polymer chemist and member of the National Academy of Engineering, will join the Rossin College as the Carl R. Anderson Endowed Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She will begin her tenure on September 1, 2020.
Currently the Pete Silas Chaired Professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Reichmanis is a groundbreaking researcher and pioneer in the world of microlithography. She is a former president of the American Chemical Society and served as director of the Materials Research Department at Bell Labs.
“Dr. Reichmanis is an exceptional scholar and academic leader,” says Stephen P. DeWeerth, professor and dean of the Rossin College. “We expect that she will expand our research impact and catalyze new areas of interdisciplinary collaboration.”
Reichmanis, whose work cuts across the fields of chemical engineering, chemistry, materials science, optics, and electronics, says she is excited for the opportunity to build on already existing interdisciplinary research initiatives, and to conceptualize and develop new ones.
“One of the things that attracted me to Lehigh was the clear strengths the university has in terms of interdisciplinary research,” Reichmanis says. “My research during my time at Bell was very interdisciplinary and very collaborative, and that kind of work is something that I truly enjoy.”