Research in theory and fundamental properties of materials paves way for innovations in electronics, energy conversion, information processing

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers University Board of Governors today named physicists Eva Andrei and Karin Rabe as Board of Governors professors. The professorship was established in 1989 to recognize exceptional scholarship and accomplishment by a faculty member at the full professorial rank.

Andrei and Rabe are professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences. The scientists are both members of the exclusive National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors an American scientist or engineer can receive, and fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society. They are also members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for independent policy research.

Eva Andrei
Eva Andrei

Andrei studies the electronic properties of graphene, a one-atom thick membrane of crystalline carbon with extraordinary electronic properties that could one day be at the heart of speedy and powerful electronic devices. In 2009, the journal Science cited her findings in its list of the year’s 10 groundbreaking scientific achievements.

Karin Rabe
Karin Rabe

Rabe’s research focuses on theoretical analysis and prediction of the structure and properties of materials, and applying these methods to the design of new materials that could be used in future electronic devices for energy conversion and information storage and processing.

“The scientific community worldwide recognizes these professors for extraordinary research that provides foundations for advances in technology and commercial innovations,” said Rutgers President Robert Barchi. “They are also respected by their students and colleagues as outstanding teachers, advisers and mentors.”

Andrei is a fellow of the American Physical Society and holds the Medal of Physics from CEA, a French government research organization. In 2010, she received the Rutgers Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research. She is vice chair of the Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee for the National Academies and holds an editorial position with the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Andrei also serves on the editorial board of the journal Solid State Communications. She earned her doctorate in physics from Rutgers in 1982 and has been on the Rutgers faculty since 1987.

Rabe is a fellow of the American Physical Society and received the society’s David Adler Lectureship Award in Materials Physics in 2008. Earlier in her career, she received a Presidential Young Investigator Award and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. She serves as president of the Aspen Center for Physics. Rabe earned her doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and was on the physics faculty at Yale University before joining Rutgers in 2000.

Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s premier public research universities. Serving more than 65,000 students on campuses, centers, institutes and other locations throughout the state, Rutgers is the only public university in New Jersey that is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.