James Sturm receives the engineering Faculty Distinguished Service Award

James Sturm, an expert in nanotechnology and materials science, is the recipient of the engineering Faculty Distinguished Service Award.

Sturm, the Stephen R. Forrest Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was the founding director of the Princeton Materials Institute, which he led from 2003-2015. His research group focuses on applications of nanotechnology to biology and medicine, and on materials and devices for microelectronics and for large-area electronics, such as solar cells and flexible infrastructure sensors.

In nominating Sturm for the award, Claire Gmachl, chair of electrical and computer engineering, noted his “28 years of continuous service, in every possible role,” including department chair, director of undergraduate studies, and as a member of the executive committee, the climate committee and the building committee. He also served as the Interim Dean of the Engineering School in 2002.

Gmachl noted Sturm’s lasting contributions to the Engineering School and the University through the founding of the Princeton Materials Institute and the Princeton Quantum Initiative. “Without Jim’s continued striving for excellence…and his gentle yet unyielding tenacity, ECE, SEAS and Princeton University today would look very different,” she wrote.

Materials science at Princeton has been deeply shaped by Sturm’s work, Gmachl noted. While Princeton does not have a department of material science, it has world-class faculty and facilities that serve both students and industry partners. “It is easy to miss that this exceptional growth resulted from the formation of PRISM, later renamed PMI under Jim’s auspices in 2002,” Gmachl wrote.

Sturm graduated from Princeton in 1979 with a bachelor’s in science and engineering degree and started his career as a microprocessor designer at Intel. He went on to earn a Ph.D. at Stanford University in 1985. He is fellow of the IEEE and has been honored numerous times for his commitment to teaching. He received the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award from Princeton University in 2004.