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 and Master of Science Programs
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.
Gennady Shvets
Director of Graduate Studies
208 Clark Hall
607-255-9983
gs656@cornell.edu
Gennady Shvets received his Ph.D. in Physics from MIT in 1995. Previously he has held research positions at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and was on the faculty of the Illinois Institute of Technology. His research interests include nanophotonics, optical and microwave metamaterials and their applications (including bio-sensing, optoelectronic devices, and vacuum electronics), and plasma physics. Shvets is one of the pioneers in the emerging field of plasmonic metamaterials, especially in the infrared part of the spectrum. Learn more about Shvets' research by vising his website at shvets.aep.cornell.edu.