Raghavan’s Sung Professorship Renewed; Zachariah Named 1st Sung Distinguished Professor

Sung Professors

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) and the A. James Clark School of Engineering extend their congratulations to University of Maryland professors Michael Zachariah, who has been named the first Patrick and Marguerite Sung Distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering; and Srinivasa Raghavan, whose Patrick and Marguerite Sung Professorship in Chemical Engineering has been renewed.

Zachariah’s appointment is second of two endowed professorships established by a $1.5 million gift from alumni T.K. “Patrick” Sung (M.S. ’69 and Ph.D. ’72, chemical engineering) and his wife, Marguerite (B.S. ’70, mathematics), in 2007.

“I am very grateful for the Sungs’ generosity and support,” says Zachariah. “The funds will enable my group to support graduate students in long range research on the measurement science of nanoparticles, which might have applications in the environment, medicine and energy.”

“We’re so pleased to be able to support exceptional faculty and research at the University of Maryland,” says Mrs. Sung. “It gives us great satisfaction to know that we’re helping Professor Raghavan and Professor Zachariah inspire and mentor students, so they will have the same enthusiasm and opportunities to succeed as we did. When we met Dr. Zachariah, we were very impressed by the quality and depth of his research. He’s created a wonderful environment for research and training the next generation of scientists and engineers.”

“I am honored to have held the Sung Professorship and I am grateful to have it renewed,” says Raghavan. “It has provided a critical boost to my research efforts over the past five years. I owe this honor to the hard work and creativity of the many excellent students who have worked with me.”

“We felt creating the professorships was the best way to serve the students, the faculty, and the university,” adds Dr. Sung. “We’ve enjoyed seeing how Dr. Raghavan’s group has grown over the past several years. It’s meant more research opportunities for students, more discoveries, and more published results, all of which improve the quality and reputation of the department, the Clark School, and the University of Maryland.”

Zachariah, who holds a joint appointment with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, pioneered the development of new characterization tools for studying nanoparticles, and a of a one-of-a-kind mass spectrometer for the study of ultra-fast condensed state reactions. His research group, the UMCP/NIST Co-Laboratory for Nanoparticle Based Manufacturing and Metrology, currently focuses on the development of analytic tools, dubbed “Nanolytics,” used to probe the behavior and function of nanoparticles and nanowires; and on the use of aerosol-based synthesis of new materials with applications in the fields of energy and medicine, including targeted cancer therapies. He recently received a University of Maryland Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (M-CERSI) Innovation Award, which funds projects that advance U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) training or research in regulatory science. Zachariah earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1986. He joined the University of Maryland faculty in 2003, and ChBE in 2013.

Raghavan is the director of the Complex Fluids and Nanomaterials Group, which studies the spontaneous self-assembly of molecules and nanoparticles and uses this behavior to create new “smart” materials. The lab is well-known for the variety and quality of its widely published research, which has wide-ranging applications in wound care, drug delivery, micromanufacturing, remediation, and clinical procedures. These products have been at the heart of several companies launched by current and former group members, including Remedium Technologies, which focuses on new technologies used to halt traumatic bleeding, and Birich Technologies, which is creating tools for use in gene therapy research. Raghavan has also received numerous honors and awards for excellence in teaching and advising, including the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty. He earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1998 and joined the University of Maryland faculty in 2001.

Published April 14, 2014