Published: March 22, 2017

Stephanie BryantAssociate Professor Stephanie Bryant has been named associate director of the Materials Science and Engineering Program at CU Boulder.

Bryant will serve alongside Professor Bob McLeod of the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, who will begin a four-year term as program director on July 1.

The new leaders will succeed founding director Chris Bowman, a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, who has led the program since July 2010. Under Bowman’s leadership, enrollment in the MS and PhD program grew to 45 students, and the first PhD student graduated in 2016.

Materials Science and Engineering involves departments throughout the College of Engineering and Applied Science as well as biology, chemistry and biochemistry, and physics. More than 50 CU faculty members conducting materials-related research are now faculty affiliates or fellows.

“I am thrilled that Bob and Stephanie have agreed to step into these important leadership roles and am confident that this program will continue along its outstanding trajectory under their leadership,” Dean Bobby Braun said.

Bryant’s four-year term began Jan. 1, but she’s been involved with the MSE program since the beginning. Materials science is at the heart of her research lab, which focuses on designing biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Bryant said she looks forward to growing the program’s size and reputation, and she appreciates that it offers an avenue for students from a range of academic backgrounds.

“I’m a very strong proponent of interdisciplinary programs,” she said. “Interdisciplinary training is so important. It enables students to be able to do new things.”