Named Chairs, Professorships, Faculty Fellowships, and Distinguished Professors
Named Chairs and Professorships
Armstrong Professional Development Professorship
To encourage the development of young faculty who demonstrate substantial achievement and great promise in teaching and their area of research.
Shelly Peyton
Provost Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
2022-23 Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellow
Research expertise in novel biomaterial platforms.
Peyton studies how a variety of different cell types are able to process information from biochemical and biophysical cues from the extracellular matrix (ECM) and make decisions about migration and phenotype.
Previously held by: Erin Baker, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Professorship in Materials Science & Engineering
To establish and support research programs in the field of materials science and engineering.
Nianqiang (Nick) Wu
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in nanostructured materials science.
Wu studies biosensing and photodynamic therapy (precision medicine); photocatalysts and photoelectrochemical cells for environmental and energy sustainability; and electrochemical energy storage.
Dev Gupta Professorship Fund
To support new areas of inquiry and encourage risk-taking and entrepreneurial pursuits in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Guangyu Xu
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research expertise in the area of signal processing and biomedical imaging.
The revolutionary research in Xu’s Integrated Nanobiotechnology Laboratory aims to build integrated molecule detection and cell imaging tools to study biological sciences and offer new biomedical applications.
Ronnie & Eugene M. Isenberg Endowed Distinguished Professorship in Engineering
To enhance teaching and research between the fields of engineering and business.
Sundar Krishnamurty
Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Research expertise in medical device design; engineering design; design optimization and additive manufacturing
Krishnamurty directs the Center for e-Design, an NSF-supported Industry/University Cooperative Research Center focused on intelligent e-design and product realization. Krishnamurty is also the associate director of the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring, which accelerates the development and commercialization of low-cost, multi-function, wearable, wireless sensor systems for personalized health care and biometric monitoring.
Previously held by: Michael F. Malone, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement and Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Endowed Chair in Renewable Energy
To attract a preeminent scholar in the field to provide leadership in positioning both the university and the Commonwealth to take advantage of opportunities in emerging areas of renewable energy. Established by the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
Krish Thiagarajan Sharman
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Research expertise in marine renewable energy and energy producing offshore structures.
Thiagarajan Sharman’s studies focus on marine renewable energy, including wind, wave, tidal, and thermal energy conversion; hydrodynamics and fluid-structure interaction; marine and offshore platform design; aquaculture engineering; and experimental and computational fluid dynamics.
UMass Distinguished Professors
Awarded to full professors who have conducted outstanding research, teaching, and/or public service contributions that are widely recognized; an extraordinary level of productivity and impact in his/her field of study that goes well beyond the existing high expectations for full professors on campus; a level of productivity and impact that has been demonstrated for an extended period of time; pre-eminence in his/her field of study; recognition by professional organizations for outstanding contributions to the field (e.g., receipt of national awards); and other qualities exhibiting excellence.
Timothy Anderson
Chemical Engineering
Erin Baker
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Lixin Gao
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Weibo Gong
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michael Malone
Chemical Engineering
Peter Monson
Chemical Engineering [Emeritus]
S. Thai Thayumanavan
Biomedical Engineering
H. Henning Winter
Chemical Engineering
Provost Professors
The title of "Provost Professor" recognizes exceptional achievement in research or creative activity, and in teaching. This campus-level faculty honorific is designated for tenure-system faculty who hold the rank of professor and are not already in a named or distinguished professorship. This title is permanent, except if a new and permanent titled professorship is awarded (such as Distinguished Professor).
Casey Brown
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shelly Peyton
Chemical Engineering
Faculty Fellows
Endowed Faculty Fellowships
Lauren Andrews
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Marvin and Eva Schlanger Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in the area of synthetic biology
The Andrews Lab is developing programmable microbes and microbial communities using computational and high-throughput experimental approaches.
Wei Fan
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Edward S. Price Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in porous materials
The Fan Lab focuses on the rational synthesis of nanoporous materials for biorefinery and drug delivery. The pore structure and size, surface properties and active sites are tailored based on the comprehensive understanding of their crystallization mechanism.
Jessica Schiffman
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Gary R. Lapidus Faculty Fellow
Research expertise in bioinspired materials that address grand challenges in human health
Schiffman focuses on synthesizing materials using green chemistry and bioinspiration; and establishing, understanding, and controlling microbial interactions with materials. She is currently developing “living materials” that feature viable microorganisms and wearable electronic textiles.
University Fellowships
Chase Cornelison
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
UMass ADVANCE Faculty Fellow 2022-23
Research expertise in soft materials; neural tissue engineering; interstitial fluid flow; tumor microenvironment
The Cornelison lab aims to develop new therapeutic strategies for restoring function after neural injury. Specifically, we seek to apply elements of cancer biology and materials science to retrain the damaged nervous system and overcome barriers to tissue regrowth.
Song Gao
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
UMass ADVANCE Faculty Fellow 2022-23
Research expertise in transportation system optimization and econometric models of traveler behavior.
Gao’s research focuses on transportation network modeling and optimization, and econometric and psychological models of traveler behavior, with applications in sustainable transportation systems, and smart and shared mobility.
Juan Jiménez
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Manning/IALS INNOVATION Fellow
UMass ADVANCE Faculty Fellow 2022-23
Research expertise in the interaction between fluid flow and biology— integrating fluid dynamic engineering, cellular and molecular biology.
The Jiménez lab studies how body fluids or biofluids, such as blood, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluid continuously interact with cells in the body eliciting biochemical and physical responses. The lab seeks to elucidate the fluid flow characteristics and fluid flow-dependent biomolecular pathways relevant in medicine, and looks to develop biomedical devices that incorporate the fundamentals of both engineering and biology for clinical success. Jiménez's Manning/IALS INNOVATION grant focuses on "Marieb-IV" a novel IV pole to improve the safety of IC medication administration during acute care hospitalization.
Ashish Kulkarni
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
UMass ADVANCE Faculty Fellow 2022-23
Research expertise in the interface of engineering and immunobiology.
The Kulkarni research develops innovative technologies for achieving the precise level of immune activation to treat diseases and improve human health. Using ‘ImmunoEngineering’ platforms, strive to understand and quantitatively study the interactions between different components of the immune system in health and disease.
Mariana Lopes
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Manning/IALS INNOVATION Fellow
Research expertise in ultraviolet disinfection and biofilm prevention; nanotechnology enabled water treatment.
The Lopes lab group seeks to engineer platforms that enhance light transport and reactions for photon-driven water treatment. This includes using nano-enabled technologies for light-driven chemical transformations while optimizing hydraulics and optical paths of reactor designs. Her Manning/IALS INNOVATION grant focuses on "Optical Waters" germicidal optical fibers to prevent disease-causing biofilms in endoscopes.
Chul Park
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Manning/IALS INNOVATION Fellow
Research expertise in sustainable and net-zero emission wastewater treatment.
Park's research interests include microbial physiology and the role of extracellular polymeric substances in bioaggregation; the photogranulation phenomenon in diverse environments; sanitation in developing countries; and the recovery of energy and nutrients in wastewater. His Manning/IALS INNOVATION grant focuses on "NaturaFloc" a low cost, enhanced auto-clarification in wastewater treatment.
