Renowned materials scientist Robert Hull, the Henry Burlage Jr. Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was recently named a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS).

“Professor Hull has led a distinguished, fruitful career, and has demonstrated time and again his global thought leadership in the field of nanomaterials,” said David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer. “His election as a fellow of the MRS is certainly well-deserved, and I congratulate him on this important milestone.”

The MRS recognized Hull “for advances in fundamental understanding of semiconductor thin films and nanostructures, and for distinguished leadership in the materials community.”

The professional society said it reserves the title of fellow to honor members who are notable for their research accomplishments and their outstanding contributions to the advancement of global materials research.

In academia and the private sector, Hull is best known for his research into fundamental growth mechanisms of semiconductor films, the self-assembly of nanostructures, and for his work in exploring potential applications of these films and structures to future nanoelectronic devices.

His research interests also include degradation modes in electronic and optoelectronic devices, the properties of dislocations in semiconductors, nanoscale fabrication techniques, nanoscale tomographic reconstruction techniques, development of new nanoelectronic architectures, and the theory and application of electron and ion beams.

Along with an extensive list of published journal articles, Hull is active in engineering and materials science societies and professional groups. Hull is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the European Academy of Sciences, and in 1997 he served as president of the MRS. In 1993 he chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Thin Films, and in 1999 chaired the Committee of Visitors for the National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research.

Prior to joining Rensselaer in 2007, Hull was a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Virginia, and directed UVA’s Institute for Nanoscale and Quantum Science in addition to its Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. Before joining UVA in 1994, he worked as a researcher at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Hewlett Packard Laboratories and held a visiting associate professorship as the NEC Chair at the University of Tokyo in Japan.

Hull received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Oxford University in 1980, and went on to earn his doctorate in materials science from Oxford in 1983.