Chair of the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Andrea Hodge
Materials researcher and expert in the design of new metallic and ceramic microstructures, Andrea Hodge, has been appointed Chair of the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. Hodge, who is also the Arthur B. Freeman Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, will begin her three year term on August 16, 2020.
Hodge joined USC Viterbi as an assistant professor in 2007. She received her Ph.D. degree in Materials Science in 2002 from Northwestern University. Since July 2016 she has been serving as Vice Provost for undergraduate programs at USC, where she will continue until July 2020.
Hodge also concurrently serves as Co-Director for the Core Center of Excellence in Nano Imaging (CNI), a role that she will also continue for the next year.
Hodge has co-authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications and two book chapters and she is the recipient of several national research awards including an NSF CAREER Award, an ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award and a DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA).
In an announcement to USC Viterbi faculty and staff, Dean Yannis C. Yortsos welcomed Hodge to her new role, in which she was selected after a thorough national and international search.
Yortsos said: “Her mentoring and teaching awards such as the Hanna Reisler Mentoring Award (2018) and the Minerals Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Julia and Johannes Weertman Educator Award (2020) speak to her broad educational impact and her commitment to service.”
Hodge said her goal as Chair was to bring together the expertise of the department and highlight research excellence, while recruiting top talent at all levels. She said she wanted to create synergy towards a common goal of excellence and collegiality, which includes the department’s faculty, staff and students.
“Diversity is a strength, and the Mork Family Department, which includes materials science, chemical and petroleum engineering, presents an ideal forum for diverse ideas at the core of enabling new discoveries and technologies,” Hodge said. “I am also proud to be the first female Chair of the department and the first Latina Chair at Viterbi.”
Hodge will take over from Choong Hoon Cho Chair and professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michael Kassner, who will continue to serve as department Interim Chair until August 15, 2020.
Published on June 11th, 2020
Last updated on September 29th, 2022
