Kathryn (Katy) Huff, an associate professor of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering at the University of Illinois, will succeed Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering Paul Wilson as chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, beginning July 1.
For her new position, Huff will return to the department from which she earned her PhD in nuclear engineering in 2013. As NEEP chair, she is eager to contribute her experiences in academic and federal leadership to elevating the department’s people, research, facilities, capabilities and reputation.
She has held multiple roles in the U.S. Department of Energy, including assistant secretary of energy, a position in which she led nuclear energy policy, managed a multibillion-dollar research and development portfolio, and coordinated work across national laboratories, universities and industry. Huff’s breadth of experience also includes work at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, the Universidad de Chile physics department, the Chicago-based Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.
After earning her PhD from UW-Madison, Huff conducted postdoctoral research in nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her current position, she is an affiliate faculty member in computational science and engineering at the University of Illinois, and of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. In her research, she advances modeling capabilities for nuclear reactors and fuel cycles; as an educator, she emphasizes active and inclusive learning, with attention to computational literacy, and she’s author of a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students on effective research computing. She’s earned numerous honors that demonstrate her excellence in teaching, research and public service.
Nuclear engineering is gaining momentum in fission and fusion, driven by an urgent global need for clean, reliable energy, says Devesh Ranjan, Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering. “Kathryn Huff brings a rare combination of technical depth, national leadership experience and forward looking vision at exactly the right moment,” he says. “As one of the nation’s top nuclear engineering programs, we are exceptionally well positioned for what’s ahead, and I’m excited for the impact Katy will have as she leads the department into its next chapter of excellence and influence.”