We are excited to announce that Frank Tsui is the new Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department effective today July, 1, 2021.
Frank joined UNC as an assistant professor in 1995. Prior to that, he was the Margaret and Herman Sokol Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sciences at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He received his PhD in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992. His research has been focused on atomic scale synthesis and characterization of nanoscale magnetic materials, including novel high throughput synthesis and characterization of epitaxial magnetic thin films and heterostructures using combinatorial molecular beam epitaxy techniques. Frank has been a full professor since 2006, and he has been an Associate Department Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies for many years. He’s a recipient of the NSF CAREER award in 1997.
Frank is taking over for Christian Iliadis who has been chair for the last 5 years. Christian has seen us through various building renovation projects, including for the new CoSMS space, the revision of the graduate student curriculum, the hires of seven new faculty, our decadal external department review, and the navigation of the department through a worldwide pandemic.