July 24, 2026
On July 24, 2026, Dean Nancy Allbritton shared the following announcement with the College of Engineering community:
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Juan Carlos Idrobo as chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. This is a five-year term effective September 1, 2026, subject to the approval of the Provost.
Juan Carlos Idrobo
Juan Carlos’ appointment reflects his outstanding record of research, education and leadership. He is internationally recognized for his work in electron microscopy and spectroscopy. His scholarship includes more than 190 publications, more than 29,000 citations and an h-index in the 70s, and he has been recognized as a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America and a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. Before joining the UW, he held leadership roles at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, including leading an electron microscopy group with responsibility for major instrumentation, budgets, safety and operations. At the UW, he currently serves as MSE Graduate Program Coordinator and holds a joint appointment with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
I am confident that under Juan Carlos’ leadership, MSE will continue to build momentum as a highly collaborative, future-focused department. Throughout the search process, his energy and commitment to students, staff and faculty came through clearly. He articulated a vision for connecting and clustering the department’s research strengths, embedding AI/ML and data literacy into the curriculum, modernizing teaching and laboratory spaces, deepening industry and national laboratory partnerships, strengthening the applied master’s and certificate programs, and elevating administrative and technical staff as full partners in the department’s success.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the work of the search committee, chaired by Eric Klavins, and including Tia Benson-Tolle, Ting Cao, Sharon Dana, Luna Huang, Lani Phillips, Xiaodong Xu and Quansan Yang. They did an excellent job engaging the department and community in the search process and providing thoughtful guidance. Many thanks to all who participated in the process and shared valuable feedback.
Finally, I would like to recognize and thank Di Xiao for his dedicated service to MSE. As Chair, Di led several important initiatives that strengthened the department, including expanding undergraduate enrollment, leading a comprehensive curriculum review, and growing the faculty through several new hires. Juan Carlos and Di will work together closely in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.
Please join me in congratulating Juan Carlos on his appointment.