Paulette Clancy, a pioneer in the field of computational materials science, became the new head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering on July 1.
Clancy is one of the country’s leaders in the study of atomic-and molecular-scale modeling of materials, especially semiconducting materials ranging from traditional, silicon-based compounds to all-organic materials. Most recently, she has been developing machine-learning techniques to accelerate the discovery of new materials. Clancy came to Johns Hopkins from Cornell University, where she served as the Samuel W. and M. Diane Bodman Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and as the director of Cornell’s Institute for Computational Science and Engineering.
Clancy was the first female director of Cornell’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (2002–10). The founding chair of Women in Science and Engineering faculty in Cornell’s College of Engineering, Clancy is a fierce advocate for the increased representation of women in engineering and the physical sciences. Among the recognitions she has received for her advocacy are the AIChE National Women’s Initiatives Committee’s Mentorship Excellence Award (2011), the Alice Cook Award for services promoting women in science at Cornell (2005), and the Zellman Warhaft award for the promotion of diversity at the College of Engineering (2007).
Clancy succeeds Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, who chaired the department from 2008 until 2017, and Sean Sun, who served as interim chair since July 2017.