Andrea Armani

Andrea Armani received her BA in physics from the University of Chicago, USA, and her PhD in applied physics with a minor in biology from the California Institute of Technology, USA. She is currently the Vice Dean of New Initiatives in the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Ray Irani Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and the Director of the John D. O’Brien Nanofabrication Laboratory at the University of Southern California (USC). Her research focuses on the development of new optical materials for integrated photonics with applications in quantum communications and healthcare.

Armani is internationally regarded for her pioneering approach to building online community, mentoring, and sharing technical information and educational resources. As the Founder and Chair of the Photonics Online Meetup (POM), the first entirely online photonics conference, she is making high-quality technical information accessible to the global community. Established before the current global health crisis, her vision served as a model for many professional scientific organizations seeking opportunities to engage without face-to-face interactions. Leveraging the success of POM, she hosted an online PhD workshop and an Academic Career Workshop, helping to reduce barriers and provide mentorship to a broader community. She also maintains a host of resources on her website that provide information on faculty searches, sample interview questions, teaching statement advice, and information about issues that confront new assistant professors.

She is the Feature Editor of Optics Letters and a Fellow of Optica, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, and SPIE. Her work has been recognized with several awards including the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award, the USC Mellon Mentoring Award for Undergraduate Mentoring, and the Hanna Reisler Award for Mentoring. In 2022, she received the Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award, “For leadership in promoting online platforms for disseminating science and educational programs, thereby reducing barriers for early career researchers and increasing mentoring opportunities worldwide."