DR. JOHN P. FERRARIS
Professor and Head of Chemistry, Cecil H. and Ida Green Chair in Systems Biology
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Texas at Dallas

Biography

Professor Ferraris received his B.A. in Chemistry from St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT in 1969 and his Ph. D. in Chemistry in 1974 from the Johns Hopkins University. He immediately thereafter conducted a National Research Council Postdoctoral at the National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C., joining the faculty of the University of Texas at Dallas in 1975. He is currently Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and Head of the Department of Chemistry. He received the W. T. Doherty Award from the DFW section of the American Chemical Society in 2001. From September 2003 to October 2006, he assumed the duties of Interim Dean, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

He serves as the coordinator the UTD component of SPRING (Strategic Partnership for Research in Nanotechnology) wherein he oversees the budgets, publicity and coordination of the UTD effort with the other SPRING components (UT Austin, UT Arlington, Rice University, U.S. Air Force, University of Texas at Brownsville, University of Texas, Pan American, and the University of Houston).  Funding to the UTD component has totaled $7.5M over the past four years.

Dr. Ferraris also maintains an active research group and is the PI or co-PI in > $8 MM in extramural contracts and grants from federal, state and private sources since FY92. The research in the Ferraris group focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization, and application of novel electroactive organic materials in a number of areas. He is the author of over 160 publications and holds 8 issued patents with 5 additional applications pending.

In 2005 he co-founded (with A. A. Zakhidov), Solarno, Inc., a start-up to develop novel concepts in solar-energy.

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