Carlo U. Segre


Carlo Segre Present Position

Duchossois Leadership Professor of Physics, 
Interim Chair, Department of Chemistry, 
Director of the Center for Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation
Illinois Institute of Technology

Chapter Affiliation

Illinois Institute of Technology

Background

CV
See below for biographical information

Statement

Over the past two years, as a member of the Sigma Xi Board, I have learned a great deal about the inner workings of the Society and the challenges we face. I have had the good fortune to be part of the Executive Committee as well, and I believe that this experience will make me a more effective advocate for the North Central Region Chapters if I should be elected to a second term.  There is a lot of work to do to help stabilize the declining membership of the society and develop a more sustainable model for the future.  I am looking forward to working with the National Headquarters staff, the Executive Director, and other Board members to develop these plans and I would be honored to serve the North Central Region for a second term. 

As I mentioned in my 2015 candidate statement, I believe that the future of the Society is to engage undergraduate and graduate students as early as possible into Sigma Xi. Not all will continue in academics but getting involved early will give them leadership opportunities and keep them connected to research beyond their graduation. There are several things that can help Chapters—at research universities and primarily undergraduate institutions alike—gain new members and reach out to communities which have not been fully tapped: 1) nominate all new faculty at the beginning of the academic year; 2) automatically nominate any Ph.D. students who have passed a candidacy or qualifying examination; 3) nominate any undergraduate student who participates in research as early as possible but well before graduation; 4) work with university administrations to have Sigma Xi recognized as an honor at graduation just like Phi Beta Kappa or Phi Kappa Phi. With these initiatives, I am hopeful that the Chapters can grow their membership and thrive and that other institutions will want to establish new Chapters or revitalize dormant ones.

An equally important goal of my second term will be to visit as many chapters as I can in the next three years.  I started this in 2018 by visiting the Southern Illinois University Chapter and I found this outreach effort to be an essential component of  fulfilling the commitment I made in 2015 to be the primary liason between Society Headquarters and the Chapters.  I am looking forward to visiting other Chapters in the final year of my current term and will continue this if elected to a second term.  

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I have served as Director of the North Central Region (2016-present), President of the IIT Chapter of Sigma Xi (2005-2016), and delegate to the annual meeting (2006).  As a Fellow of the International Center for Diffraction Data, I am currently the chair of their Education Subcommittee (2005-present) as well as member of the Scholarship Committee (2005-present) and the Meeting Support Committee (2005-present).  Since 2008, I have been serving as a member of the Advanced Photon Source Beam Time Allocation Committee and since 2018 as an elected member of the Advanced Photon Source User Organization Steering Committee.  In addition to my administrative responsibilities as Associate Chair of the Department of Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences (1993-1999), Associate Dean for Research of Armour College (2002-2004), Associate Dean of the Graduate College (2004-2011), and Interim Chair of the Department of Chemistry (2016-present), my service to IIT includes being a member of the Faculty Council (1986-1988), Chair of the Research subcommittee for the National Commission for IIT (1994-1995), Chair of the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure (2008), and liaison between IIT and Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories.  Since 1993, I have been the organizer of the High School Bridge Building Contest (Chair, 1993-2003) which runs a large Chicago Regional contest annually and an International contest biannually on the IIT campus.  Currently I am Director of IIT's Center for Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation which I helped found in 1988.  In this capacity I am promoting synchrotron radiation research throughout the IIT campus.

Biographical Information: Carlo Uberto Segre: Education: Ph.D. in Physics, University of California, San Diego, 1981; B.S. Physics and B.S. Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1976.  Employment: Assistant Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1983-1989; Associate Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1989-2001; Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2001-present; Duchossois Leadership Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2011-present; Staff Associate, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, 1990-1993; Deputy Director, Materials Research Collaborative Access Team at the Advanced Photon Source 1994-present; Deputy Director, Biophysics Collaborative Access Team, 2012-present.  Awards: Fellow, International Center for Diffraction Data (2006), Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2013); Sigma Xi Research Award, Senior Faculty Division, IIT (2014). Grants (as PI): ARPA-E, Development of a Nanoelectrofuel Flow Battery (2013-2015); Department of Energy, Nuclear Energy Research Initiative 2005-2009; NSF Materials World Network 2008-2012; Department of Education Graduate Assistantships in Areas of National Need 2009-2013; operations support for the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (from Argonne National Laboratory, Environmental Protection Agency, Honeywell UOP, University of Notre Dame), 1997-present.  Research: Materials characterization using synchrotron radiation, specifically fuel cell catalysts, advanced materials for nuclear reactors, multiferroics and metal-insulator systems. 18 Ph.D. and 5 M.S. students graduated, currently advising 4 Ph.D. students.  More than 30 undergraduate research advisees over my time at IIT.