Prof. Chris Van de Walle of UCSB delivered the Dow Lecture in MSE on nitride semiconductors (2/27/2025)

The Dow Lectureship for Research Excellence and Societal Impact was endowed by Dow Chemical Company in 2008 to highlight the critical role of materials science in advancing technologies that improve quality of life, such as in energy and sustainability. This prestigious lecture series features speakers who have received outstanding recognition in our field, showcasing groundbreaking research with broad technological and societal impact.

This year's Dow lecturer, Prof. Chris Van de Walle, is a Distinguished Professor of Materials and the inaugural recipient of the Herbert Kroemer Endowed Chair in Materials Science at UC Santa Barbara. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, the recipient of a Humboldt Award for Senior US Scientist, the David Adler Award from the APS, the Medard W. Welch Award from the AVS, and the John Bardeen Award from TMS. Most recently in 2025, Prof. Van de Walle is the recipient of the Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics, the highest honor given by APS for work in the field of computational physics.