Dr. Dawn A. Bonnell has been named Trustee Term Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Bonnell is an alumna of the University of Michigan, where she received her bachelor's degree in 1983 and her Ph.D. in 1986. She joined the faculty of the School of Engineering in 1988 after working as a Research Scientist at IBM Thomas Watson Research Center. At Penn, Dr. Bonnell also serves as Director of the Center for Science and Engineering of Nanoscale Systems, which was created to foster research and educational activities in nanoscale science and engineering. The Center involves faculty from SEAS, SAS and SOM. She currently is Chair of the Dean's Committee on Nanoscience and Technology and Chair of the Provost's strategic planning committee on Academic Priorities in Technological Innovation.

Dr. Bonnell's research is in nanometer scale phenomena at interfaces involving atomic imaging; electronic structure and bonding related to nanometer variation in optical, magnetic, and electrical, properties; charge mediated assembly of nanoelectronics; and proximity effects in functional and biomolecular nanostructures.

Dr. Bonnell is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and a member of the Materials Research Society, AVS: Science and Technology Society and the American Physical Society.

"Dawn has worked tirelessly to build and promote the School's research and its visibility in nanotechnology," said Dean Eduardo Glandt. "This chair appointment will further assist her in accomplishing her research goals and in contributing to the goals of the School."