Company
Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland
Location
Maryland
Dr. Samuel Graham, Jr. is the Dean of the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, taking on this role in 2021. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Nagoya University in Nagoya, Japan, where he works with Nobel Laureate Hiroshi Amano to develop advanced semiconductor devices.
His current research centers on the development of electronics made from wide bandgap semiconductors (III-V, oxides) for a range of applications, including optoelectronics, RF communications, power switches, and neuromorphic computing. His current research on wide-bandgap semiconductors focuses on engineering the thermal response of devices to enhance heat dissipation and improve device reliability. He has made seminal contributions to the thermal design of GaN electronics, including the integration of GaN with diamond for high-power-density devices. Other distinguishing contributions include his work on barrier films and packaging for flexible display technologies and organic electronics.
From 1999 to 2003, Dr. Graham was a Sr. Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore, CA, where he worked on the development of EUV lithography systems. In 2003, he joined the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Professor in 2013 and was appointed the Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. Professor and School Chair in 2018. After moving to the University of Maryland in 2021, he has led the largest engineering program in the State of Maryland with a focus on strategic areas of Physical AI, Energy, Quantum Engineering, Space Systems, Electronics, Medical Innovations, and Advanced Manufacturing. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Graham was a member of the Defense Science Study Group (2014-16), a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (2016-2020), and a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Board of the Department of the Navy. He currently serves on the Emerging Technologies Technical Advisory Committee of the US Department of Commerce and the NNSA Advisory Committee for Nuclear Security. He is a Fellow of ASME, AAAS, and ASTFE.