Eric Isaacs
Dr. Eric Isaacs is the 11th President of the Carnegie Institution for Science where he oversees the research and business functions across six research departments on the East and West coasts and observatories in Chile. Since its founding in 1902, Carnegie has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research with leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, high pressure physics and materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.
Prior to beginning his tenure at Carnegie Science, Isaacs spent many years at the University of Chicago from which he departed in July 2018 as the Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor in physics and the James Franck Institute Executive Vice President for Research, Innovation and National Laboratories. From 2014 to 2016, was Provost of the university. Prior to that he was director of Argonne National Laboratory for five years, where he had been since 2003, with a joint appointment in the university's physics department.
Previously, he worked for 15 years at Bell Labs, including serving as director of the Semiconductor Physics Research and Materials Physics Research Departments. At Bell Labs, Isaacs developed synchrotron-based X-ray-scattering techniques, including inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray microscopy that continue to play an important role in materials and nanoscale scientific research.
Isaacs’ research interests are in condensed matter physics and quantum materials. He has a Ph.D. in physics from MIT and a bachelor's degree from Beloit College. He has published more than 150 scholarly articles.
