Rafael Verduzco, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering (ChBE) at Rice, has been named the A.J. Hartsook Professor of ChBE, effective July 1, 2025.
On the recommendation of Luay Nakhleh, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering and Computing, and Provost Amy Dittmar, the Rice Board of Trustees approved the promotion at its Dec. 5 meeting.
Research in Verduzco’s lab has recently focused on developing polymers that are conductive and/or electrochemically active. They can be used to make thin, flexible electronic devices with applications in the recovery of valuable minerals from wastewater and for water remediation.
His group is working on a variety of challenges and applications of these materials, including water treatment and separations, bioelectronic devices and electrochemical CO2 reduction. He and his colleagues have also developed a type of branched polymer known as bottlebrush polymers, which can be used to make soft networks and stimuli-responsive materials.
Verduzco graduated from Rice with a B.S. in chemical engineering in 2001 and went on to earn an M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2003 and 2007, respectively. After serving as a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, he joined the Rice faculty in 2009.
Verduzco holds a joint appointment in materials science and nanoengineering, and was recently selected to be a 2024 Fellow of the American Physical Society.