Arjun G. Yodh

Arjun G. Yodh is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and for more than a decade, he has been Director of The Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM) and its NSF-supported Materials Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). 

Yodh’s research at Penn has spanned a remarkably wide range of fundamental and applied investigations in condensed matter physics, medical physics, biophysics, and optical science. This work includes early contributions to the nonlinear optics of solid-solid interfaces, and ground-breaking fundamental research in soft matter including stabilization of carbon nanotubes in solution, incisive studies of melting and frustration in colloids and liquid crystals, measurement of entropic forces, and discoveries about the role of particle anisotropy in Brownian motion and coffee rings. Lastly, he has done pioneering work in biomedical optics, both demonstrating and clinically translating diffuse optics for noninvasive imaging and monitoring of tissue blood flow, hemodynamics, and metabolic responses in cancer and brain.

In addition to mentoring more than 100 Ph.D. students and post-doctoral associates during his career, Yodh has made significant contributions to education, outreach, and diversity at Penn (broadly defined). Notable among these efforts are LRSM partnerships with the University of Puerto Rico and the Girard College of Philadelphia, as well as research experience programs for undergraduates (REU, Site-grants), high school students (PSSI), and high school teachers in the Philadelphia region and beyond.

Yodh graduated from Cornell University (1981) with a B.Sc. in Applied and Engineering Physics; he obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard (1986) with Tom Mossberg; and he then spent two years at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a post-doc working with Steven Chu and Harry Tom. Yodh joined the faculty at Penn in 1988, where he has remained for his entire career.