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Stacey Bent is named chair of Chemical Engineering

Her research focuses on understanding and controlling surface and interfacial chemistry and applying this knowledge in a wide range of fields from semiconductors to sustainability.

Stacey Bent, the Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor in the School of Engineering and a professor of chemical engineering, will be the new chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

“Stacey leads by example in her outstanding research, her service to the department and to the university, and her excellent mentorship and teaching,” said Persis S. Drell, the Frederick Emmons Terman Dean of the Stanford School of Engineering and the James and Anna Marie Spilker Professor in the School of Engineering. “She is admired by all of her colleagues and will have their strong support and the support of the school as she takes on the responsibilities of the chair.”

Bent’s research is focused on understanding and controlling surface and interfacial chemistry and applying this knowledge to a range of problems in semiconductor processing, microelectronics and nanoelectronics, nanotechnology, and sustainable and renewable energy. Systems currently under study in Bent’s laboratory include functionalization of semiconductor surfaces; mechanisms and control of atomic layer deposition; molecular layer deposition; nanoscale materials for light absorption; interface engineering in photovoltaics; and catalyst and electrocatalyst development.

Bent is director of the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, a senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and a professor, by courtesy, of electrical engineering, materials science and engineering, and chemistry. She holds a PhD in chemistry from Stanford and a BS in chemical engineering from the University of California-Berkeley.

Bent has received many honors and awards for her research, and for excellence in teaching and fostering undergraduate research. She is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Vacuum Society.

Bent, who will begin her new role July 1, said, “I look forward to helping to support my colleagues as they continue to make outstanding contributions to research, teaching and service to the university and the broader chemical engineering community.”

She replaces Eric Shaqfeh, who will return to research and teaching after four years of leading the department through creation of a new identity and a move into its new home in Shriram Center. “We have appreciated Eric’s strong and rational voice on the Stanford Engineering Executive Committee,” Drell said.