PME Dean Nadya Mason wins 2024 Robert Holland Jr. Award

UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Dean Nadya Mason has been named one of four recipients of the 2024 Robert Holland Jr. Award. 

The award, now in its second year, is given by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement to tenured physical sciences teacher-scholars in the United States or Canada who “demonstrate a consistent record of and strong commitment to creativity, excellence in research and teaching, and mentorship guided toward diversity and inclusion.” 

“This is a wonderful personal honor, but it also recognizes the importance of the work we are doing at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago to encourage underrepresented groups to consider careers in engineering,” Mason said. “We are breaking down barriers through everything from networking and professional development opportunities to events that celebrate our students to simply reaching out to our neighbors on Chicago’s South Side.”  

“Every day, engineering at UChicago shows young people that engineers look like them,” Mason said.  

Mason joined PME as Dean in 2023, taking over from Founding Dean Matthew Tirrell, the D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus. 

Mason specializes in experimental studies of quantum materials, with a research focus on the electronic properties of nanoscale and correlated systems, such as nano-scale wires, atomically thin membranes, and nanostructured superconductors. Her research is relevant to applications involving nanoscale and quantum computing elements. 

Throughout her career, she has worked to increase diversity in the physical sciences, particularly through mentoring, and is former chair of the APS Committee on Minorities, where she helped initiate the “National Mentoring Community.” 

Read about Dean Mason’s vision for PME from her first Town Hall