Gupta Named UA Distinguished Research Professor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Board of Trustees has named Dr. Arunava Gupta, a professor of chemistry and chemical and biological engineering at UA, a Distinguished University Research Professor.

This title recognizes UA faculty who have achieved international accomplishments in their field and have been given extensive peer recognition for their scholarly contributions and noteworthy academic service.

Gupta, who holds a joint appointment in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering and is associate director of UA’s Center for Materials for Information Technology, or MINT, is internationally known for his expertise in investigating thin films and nanostructured materials for use in information technology and energy applications

Gupta is one of only four UA faculty members to hold the University Distinguished Research Professor title. He is a 2010 recipient of Germany’s prestigious Humboldt Research Prize and a fellow in both the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the American Physical Society.

Since coming to The University of Alabama, Gupta has been awarded more than $5 million in funding from such key sources as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense.

In the recommendation letter to the Board of Trustees, Dr. Robert Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Charles Karr, dean of the College of Engineering, noted his international reputation and also wrote, “Dr. Gupta is highly effective at leading and inspiring research groups with participants that range from the most accomplished scientists to graduate, undergraduate and, indeed, on occasion, high school students. His amicable and professional manner makes him an exemplary representative of the University.”

While working as a researcher at IBM, he played an influential role in the expansion of research and industrial interest in these fields. During 1988-1990, his team at IBM reported the use of solution-based-precursors for the synthesis of high temperature superconducting oxide films and also made pioneering contributions to the development of the Pulsed Laser Deposition technique for oxide film growth, which is now well recognized.

In the 1990s Gupta conducted similar groundbreaking research in the area of magnetic oxides, being the first to report large magnetoresistance effects at low fields in devices fabricated from manganites and other half-metallic oxides.

Since joining UA’s faculty in 2004, Gupta has remained at the forefront of research on the synthesis, properties, and applications of oxide and chalcogenide thin films and nanostructured materials, an area as rich for continuing research as it is for industrial and commercial application. During his career he has published over 300 research papers in highly regarded scientific journals including Nature, Nature Materials, Science, Physical Review Letters, Applied Physics Letters, Nano Letters, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

In 2010, he gained international acclaim when he received the Humboldt Research Prize awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The $75,000 award is given to internationally renowned scientists and scholars. In 2011, he was elected by his peers as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

UA’s department of chemistry is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.

UA’s department of chemical and biological engineering is part of the College of Engineering. In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater, Hollings, Portz, Mitchell and Truman scholars.