American Chemical Society Names Julia Chan, Ph.D., ACS Fellow for 2024

Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-709-5959
Follow us on X (Twitter): @BaylorUMedia

Julia Y. Chan, Ph.D., B.S. ’93, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and The Tim and Sharalynn Fenn Family Endowed Chair in Materials Science at Baylor University, is among 37 members of the American Chemical Society named as ACS Fellows for 2024. Around 1% of ACS members – which number more than 200,000 – are recognized as Fellows.

The prestigious fellows program recognizes and honors ACS members for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession and ACS, reflecting not only excellence but also the diverse contributions made by ACS members. Chan is the second Baylor faculty member to be named an ACS Fellow. George Cobb, Ph.D., professor and chair of environmental science, was honored in 2015.

Before returning to her alma mater in 2022, Chan built an international reputation as a leading scientist focused on the discovery of new families of quantum materials. At Baylor, now a Carnegie Research 1 institution, she provides multi-disciplinary leadership for Baylor’s burgeoning materials science efforts, one of the signature academic initiatives in the Illuminate strategic plan. In addition, Chan is committed to her students, having graduated a diverse group of 23 Ph.D. students, who are more than 40% underrepresented minorities or women.

“It means so much to be recognized by one of the largest scientific societies in the world for the work I have done within my research group, with scientific collaborators in the U.S. and abroad, and service within the ACS and other partnering scientific organizations to disseminate science to a broader community,” Chan said. “I’m grateful to be honored and I must give credit to my mentors and my research team. It has been a pleasure and a joy to have been able to work with a diverse group of students who have gone on to become excellent scientists and leaders through research and scholarly activities and they are making an impact in the global scientific community.”

Quantum materials

A leader in the field of materials science, Chan specifically focuses on the study, synthesis and characterization of quantum materials, searching for ways to arrange molecules that create exotic properties and behaviors within the synthesized materials.

“In my laboratory, we grow single crystals of solid-state materials so we can directly measure the physical properties,” Chan said. “In addition to diffraction techniques, we work extensively with collaborators all over the world to learn about the physics of new materials. The key is synthesis of novel quantum materials, critical to understanding the function of emergent materials. The combination of chemistry, physics and materials science insights is synergistic and necessary to advance the field and can impact sustainability, energy and quantum information science.”

Chan has published more than 220 published articles and earned significant competitive research awards from organizations like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and American Chemical Society, along with support from funding agencies like the NSF, Department of Energy and Welch Foundation. She also was named a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. 

In addition, Chan joined the Science family of journals as an associate editor in 2015. In 2018, she was appointed as a deputy editor for the renowned journal Science Advances – the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) open access multidisciplinary journal – where she takes a lead role in evaluating cutting-edge scientific research from around the world.

In 2019, on behalf of the Council of the AAAS, she was elected to the rank of AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of crystal growth of highly correlated quantum materials.

Returning to R1 Baylor

While maintaining an active research portfolio and serving Science Advances remain priority items for Chan, she was drawn back to Baylor to build and be a part of the University’s systemic research growth as an R1 university. She has been a part of numerous high-level institutions since her time as a Baylor undergraduate. After earning a Ph.D. at the University of California at Davis, Chan was a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory. In her independent academic career, she spent 22 years at Louisiana State University and the University of Texas at Dallas – both R1 institutions. As a faculty member at LSU and UT-Dallas, she earned numerous awards and significant external funding for quantum materials science research. 

“Dr. Julia Chan is well deserving of this prestigious recognition as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society, an honor only achieved by less than 2% of ACS members,” said Lee Nordt, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “Dr. Chan is a nationally and internationally recognized researcher in the field of quantum materials. We were thrilled to recruit her – and her research group – to Baylor, where she holds The Fenn Family Chair in Materials Science. She is a leader within our materials science initiative, engaging with faculty across campus and with students at Baylor now, and in the future, as we expand our impact in materials science research.”

Chan’s endowed chair – The Tim and Sharalynn Fenn Family Endowed Chair in Materials Science – was established in 2022 by Tim and Sharalynn Fenn of Houston in support of the Materials Science initiative within Illuminate and the Give Light campaign. The Fenn Chair is a permanent endowment to attract, retain and support a visionary Christian leader who is focused on the growth and development of Materials Science and its associated fields. The Fenn Chair was the first named chair to be filled within Give Light’s Illuminate Chair Matching Program, which supports the University’s efforts to generate high-impact research and scholarship, focusing especially upon the key academic initiatives of Illuminate, by matching endowment gifts to establish research faculty chairs.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress, the American Chemical Society is one of the world’s largest scientific organizations with more than 200,000 individuals in its global community across 140 countries. The ACS mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. Its vision is to improve all people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments in the sciences, humanities, fine arts and social sciences, as well as 11 academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. The College’s undergraduate Unified Core Curriculum, which routinely receives top grades in national assessments, emphasizes a liberal education characterized by critical thinking, communication, civic engagement and Christian commitment. Arts & Sciences faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit the College of Arts & Sciences website.