UMass Trustees Appoint CBE’s Nianqiang Wu Distinguished Professor

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In June the UMass Board of Trustees promoted Nianqiang “Nick” Wu – who has spent the past five years as the inaugural Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Professor in Materials Science within the UMass Amherst Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) Department – to the esteemed status of Distinguished Professor. 

The qualifications for a UMass Distinguished Professor include: outstanding research, teaching, and/or public-service contributions that are widely recognized nationally and internationally; 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; and recognition by professional organizations for outstanding contributions to the field (e.g., receipt of national awards). 

Beyond the Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Professorship and the Distinguished Professorship, Wu has been elected as a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (ECS), a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Among many other distinctions, Wu has also received the notable ECS Sensor Division Outstanding Achievement Award, the Riccio College of Engineering Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, and he was a Distinguished Lecturer at the United States Naval Research Laboratory in Washinton, D.C. Before arriving at UMass Amherst, Wu was the George B. Berry Endowed Chair Professor and Benedum Distinguished Scholar.

Wu’s pioneering work as head of the Wu Research Group focuses on gaining fundamental insights into charge-transfer and energy-transfer processes in electrochemical and photoelectric materials and devices. According to Wu, “This foundation provides a unique advantage to develop high-performance materials and devices through a ‘device-by-design’ strategy.” 

Professor Wu is an internationally recognized leader in plasmonic and photonic materials and devices, electrochemical energy storage, photocatalysis and photo-electrochemistry, and biosensors/ biomedical devices. Internationally renowned peers praised his Distinguished Professor appointment. 

One peer commented that “Professor Wu’s research is highly impactful and widely recognized, making him one of the leading scientists in all fields of science and engineering…This is exceptional performance that warrants recognition.” Another said that “Nick’s contributions have had a profound impact across multiple scientific communities, marked by an extraordinary record of productivity and leadership.” A third peer noted that “Dr. Wu’s record exemplifies the highest standards of research productivity and impact, reputational impact, and faculty and student mentorship at UMass. Professor Wu is recognized as a global authority in materials science, medical diagnostics, and electrochemical engineering.”

Professor Wu has built and sustained an exceptional research portfolio. Since arriving at UMass Amherst, he has been principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI on multiple major federal awards, securing over $22 million in external research support (with roughly $9 million directly supporting his research group), including a $3.4-million National Institutes of Health (NIH) award (2021) and a $2.8-million NIH award (2024), for which he is sole PI. In addition, during this time, Wu has also been awarded two patents and filed one intellectual-property disclosure.

Wu has published about 230 peer-reviewed journal articles in leading journals, and his work has been cited some 40,000 times (h-index: 93; i10 index: ~201), according to Google Scholar Citation. Wu’s high-profile published papers have also enabled him to be named as a coveted “Highly Cited Researcher” by Web of Science/Clarivate Analytics for many years. 

Wu’s recent publishing accomplishments include invited review articles on point-of-care testing, bio-imaging, and plasmonic nanoparticles in the prestigious journal Chemical Society Reviews. In addition, he had an invited perspective article on “Plasmonic hot electrons for sensing, photodetection, and solar-energy applications” published in the influential Journal of Chemical Physics and an invited review article on “Ionic conductivity and ion-transport mechanisms of solid-state lithium-ion battery electrolytes” published in another respected journal, Energy Science & Engineering.

One peer best summarized Professor Wu’s excellence in teaching and mentoring with this comment, “Professor Wu’s impact on students has been exceptional...His recent Ph.D. graduates and mentees are recognized for their high-impact research in medical diagnostics and sustainable-energy materials. Many have transitioned into significant roles in academia and industry.”

Wu earned his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Zhejiang University in China.