Academic Leadership
Lois Pollack
Director of Applied and Engineering Physics
270 and 254 Clark Hall
607-255-8695
lp26@cornell.edu
After receiving her Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from MIT, Professor Pollack came to Cornell to work with the Low Temperature Physics group. She was a postdoctoral associate (1989-1991) and a research associate (1991-1997) in the Microkelvin Laboratory. In 1997, with support from the NSF and the LASSP Biophysics Group, she changed the focus of her research program to biophysics. In 1999 she became senior research associate in LASSP. She joined the faculty of Applied and Engineering Physics in 2000. Her research in the Pollack Lab focuses on developing and applying physics-based tools to gain insight into outstanding problems in molecular biology. She received the Swanson Excellence in Teaching Award in 2003, and the Chau Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012.
Lena F. Kourkoutis
Director of Undergraduate Studies
235 Clark Hall
607-255-9121
lena.f.kourkoutis@cornell.edu
Kourkoutis received a Diploma in Physics from the University of Rostock, Germany in 2003, and then moved to Ithaca where she was awarded a PhD in 2009. As a Humboldt Research Fellow Kourkoutis spent 2011-2012 exploring cryo-electron microscopy in the Molecular Structural Biology Group at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. She returned to Cornell as a Postdoctoral Associate in 2012 and joined the Applied and Engineering Faculty in 2013. She has been selected by Microscopy Society of America as the recipient of the prestigious 2013 Albert Crewe Award. The Kourkoutis Electron Microscopy Group focuses on understanding and controlling nanostructured materials, from complex oxide heterostructures to materials for battery and photovoltaic applications to biomaterials.
Joel Brock
Director of Master of Engineering Program
Given Foundation Professor of Engineering
201 Clark Hall
607-255-9006
jdb20@cornell.edu
After receiving his doctoral degree, Brock spent two years as a postdoctoral research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then joined the Cornell faculty in 1989. He served as Director of the School of Applied & Engineering Physics from 2000-2007. At Cornell, he is affiliated with the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR), the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (emc2), and is Director of the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). He is a member of the American Crystallography Association, the Materials Research Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Engineering Education, Sigma Xi, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and The Materials Society. Brock is a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Gregory David Fuchs
Director of Graduate Studies
228 Clark Hall
607-255-5634
Fuchs earned his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University in 2007. Afterward, he moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara as a postdoctoral associate. In 2011, he joined the Cornell faculty of Applied and Engineering Physics. In 2012 he received a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, in 2013 he received an Early Faculty Career Award from the National Science Foundation along with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and in 2014 he received the Early Career Award from the Department of Energy. Learn more about his research on his page.