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We had a good fall semester.

That seems like a simple statement, but it means a lot, considering the events of the past year and a half. It is worth remarking upon as CU �鶹ӰԺ returned to full-time, on-campus operations.

Our students, faculty and staff did the hard work necessary to ensure that we had a safe, smooth and successful transition back to something approaching normalcy. There was strong, positive energy on campus that began as students returned and that continued all the way through to finals.

All of us were glad to return to the important education and research work of the department.��

Amidst this transition, our department continued to succeed and grow in meaningful ways. We hired three fantastic new faculty members—Assistant Professor R. Kōnane Bay, Bowman Endowed Professor (and department alumnus) Jason A. Burdick and Teaching Assistant Professor Ehsan Keyvani.

Our veteran faculty continued to win recognition for themselves and the department, from Distinguished ,�� Professor Christine Hrenya’s recognition as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, to Professor Theodore Randolph’s recognition in the National Academy of Inventors.

We also launched major research initiatives, including Professor Seth Marder and Professor Michael Toney’s Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand and a multi-faculty collaboration on a $2M NSF award for post-consumer plastic waste research.

Our students and alumni continued to shine, with our undergraduates performing well at a national Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering symposium, alumnus , Chern-Hooi Lim’s C&EN Talented 12 recognition and more.

The news stories of this past summer and fall demonstrate the incredible research, education and industry accomplishments of our department community. Take the time to see what your fellow Buffs have been up to.

We should all be proud that we had a good fall semester. I know I am.

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Denver Business Challenge Endowed Professor Will Medlin
Chair