Prof. Alex JEN (任廣禹)

Professor Alex Jen, a renowned scientist and eminent leader, joined City University of Hong Kong in 2016. He is the Lee Shau Kee Chair Professor of Material Science and the Director of Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy (HKICE).

Professor Jen received his bachelor's degree from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in USA. He was the Boeing-Johnson Chair Professor and Chair of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. He also served as Chief Scientist for the Clean Energy Institute endowed by the Washington State Governor.

Professor Jen is a distinguished researcher with a well-cited publication record. He has co-authored >1060 publications, given over 600 invited presentations, has >85,000 citations and an H-index of 150, and is co-inventor for more than 63 patents and invention disclosures. His research interests are inter-disciplinary, specializing in organic/hybrid functional materials and devices for photonics, energy, sensors, and nanomedicine. He was named by Thomson Reuters as one of the “Highly Cited Researchers” in 2014-2022 and as one of the "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds" in 2015 and 2016 in the area of materials science.

Being an internationally recognized scholar, Professor Jen has been elected as Fellow by several professional societies including AAAS, MRS, ACS, PMSE, OSA, SPIE, and as an Academician by the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He has also demonstrated capability on technology transfer and fund raising, and is the founder of the Institute of Advanced Materials for Energy (i-AME) of the University of Washington.

Utilizing molecular, polymeric, and biomacromolecular self-assembly to create ordered arrangement of organic and inorganic functional materials for photonics, opto-electronics, nanomedicine, and nanotechnology. 

Employing the “molecular engineering” approach to tailor size, shape, sequence, and functionality of organic/hybrid functional materials and explore their applications.

Education

BS, Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsin-Chu, 1978
Ph.D., Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1984

University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, 1999-2016
Boeing/Johnson Chair Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Professor of Chemistry
Chief Scientist, Clean Energy Institute
Director, Institute of Advanced Materials for Energy

Professional Experience

Chief Scientist, Clean Energy Institute, Univ. of Washington, 2013-2016
Chair, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, Univ. of Washington, 2007-2016
Director, Institute of Advanced Materials for Energy, 2011-2016
Director, Institute for Advanced Materials & Technology, Univ. of Washington, 2006-2011
Acting Chair, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, Univ. of Washington, 2005-2007
Boeing-Johnson Chair Professor, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, Univ. of Washington, 2000-Present
Associate Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA., 1997-1999
Vice President, Optical Materials Division, ROI Technology, 1995-1996
Group Leader-Senior Scientist, NLO Materials, EniChem America, 1990-1994
Project Leader-Principal Scientist, Advanced Materials Laboratory, EniChem America, 1988-1990
Research Scientist, Specialty Polymers Department, Allied-Signal Inc., 1984-1988

•   Patents & Invention Records: >63
•   Publications: >1060
•   H-index: 150
•   Citations: >85,000

Name by Times Higher Education (THE) as one of the “Top 10 Researchers in the World Working on Perovskite Solar Cells”.

Named to The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds by Thomson Reuters, 2015, 2016

President Award, City University of Hong Kong, 2022

Outstanding Research Award, City University of Hong Kong, 2021

Lee Shau Kee Endowed Chair Professor of Materials Science

Foreign Member of the European Academy of Sciences, 2019

Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% cited in Materials Science), Thomson Reuters (2014-22)

Honorary Professor, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, ROC, 2017

Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Science, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, ROC, 2017

BK21+ Distinguished Professor, Korea University, 2015-2018
Distinguished Chair Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, National Taiwan University, 2013
MRS Fellow, The Materials Research Society, 2012
Chair Professor, Polymer Science & Engineering, Zhejiang University, China, 2012
Member, Washington State Academy of Sciences, 2011
ACS Fellow, The American Chemical Society, 2011
World-Class University Professor, Korea University, Korea Research Foundation, Korea, 2009
Honorary Professor, East China University of Science & Technology, China, 2009
PMSE Fellow, The American Chemical Society, Div. of Polymeric Materials Science & Engineering, 2009
Board of Directors, Washington Technology Center, Appointed by Governor of Washington State, 2007
Faculty of Research Innovator Award, College of Engineering, University of Washington, 2007
Changjiang Endowed Chair Professor, Ministry of Education, China, 2007
OSA Fellow, The Optical Society of America, 2007
SPIE Fellow, The International Society of Optical Engineering, 2006
AAAS Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005
Member of Advisory Board, Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, 2002-Present
Boeing-Johnson Endowed Chair, University of Washington, 1999-Present
Industrial Fellow (rank as full professor), Northwestern University, 1995-2000
Founder’s Award, ROITech, 1995
Outstanding Achievement Award, EniChem America, 1994
President’s Award, EniChem America, 1989
Rohm & Hass Research Fellowship, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, 1981

Editor, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Advisory Board Member, Energy Frontier Research Center, Univ. of Michigan
Advisory Board Member, Material Synthesis, Simulation Across Scales, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Editorial Advisory Board Member, ACS Chemistry of Materials, NPG-Asia Materials, Journal of the Experimental Nanoscience
Chair of the Advisory Board, The Transformative Materials Initiative, The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 2007-
Board of Directors, The Washington Technology Center, appointed by the Washington State Governor
Advisory Board Member, College of Arts & Science, National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan
Advisory Board Member, Institute of Chemistry, Academic Sinica, Taiwan