2026-2027 Department Chair Welcome

Welcome to the 2026-2027 academic year! Whether you are a new or returning member of the department, or cheering from afar, we hope this time of year gives you the opportunity to pursue new discoveries and manifest good things for the year to come.

I am honored to serve as Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. This is an especially meaningful year to take on this role as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of our department.

As we commemorate this milestone we have an opportunity to celebrate the people, discoveries, and ideas that have shaped our community, and to consider the possibilities ahead. We hope that you will join us for the November 13 celebration.

I would also like to express our gratitude to now Professor Emerita Dawn Bonnell for her leadership and service to Penn as Senior Vice Provost for Research, as well as to the School, department, and broader research community. As a member of the National Academy of Engineering, among other accolades, Dawn’s research has fundamentally advanced our understanding of surfaces and interfaces at the atomic scale, with implications for devices ranging from biosensors to solar cells to computer processors.

As part of our 80th anniversary celebration, we also want to hear from you. We have created a Kudoboard for our extended MSE community to share memories, photographs, reflections, and messages. We hope you will help us capture and preserve the story that is MSE at Penn.

I look forward to celebrating the year ahead and hope to see you all at our November celebration.

Eric Stach
Robert D. Bent Professor of Engineering
Scientific Director of the Singh Center for Nanotechnology
Chair, Department of Materials Science and Engineering