Theresa Mayer, PhD

Vice President for Research • Carnegie Mellon University

Theresa S. Mayer is Carnegie Mellon University’s Vice President for Research, providing leadership for the University’s research enterprise and advocating for the role that science, technology, and innovation play nationally and globally.

Theresa holds joint faculty appointments in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering. Theresa was previously Purdue University’s executive vice president for research and partnerships and a professor of electrical and computer engineering. There she oversaw Purdue’s research enterprise.

Mayer served as vice president for research and innovation and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech. Prior to her role at Virginia Tech, Mayer was at Pennsylvania State University for more than 20 years, where she served as a distinguished professor of electrical engineering, associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Engineering, the site director of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and director of the Materials Research Institute Nanofabrication Laboratory.

She is internationally recognized for her research in applications of nanotechnology to electronic and photonic devices with new and previously unexplored functions. Her work in directed and self-assembly of nanoparticles has been used to expand the types and complexity of materials that can be integrated into devices beyond standard lithographic approaches, enabling a wide range of novel structures from low-power integrated nanosensor circuits to nanostructured gradient index optical components.

She has more than 350 technical publications, invited presentations and tutorials, and holds eight patents. Several of her co-inventions have been transitioned into commercial products. She is a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has received numerous awards for her teaching and research, including the NSF CAREER award. Throughout her career, she has supported the advancement of women in science and engineering.

Mayer earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue.