Rod Beresford is a professor in the School of Engineering at Brown University. His interests include energy system modeling, renewable energy, solar cell physics, electronic materials and devices, digital system design, semiconductor manufacturing, crystal growth, quantum structures, microfluidics, and biosensing. He was the Academic Director for the Master of Science in Technology Leadership program. In 2020/21, he served as an IEEE / AAAS Congressional Fellow, working on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee.

He has twice served as Brown’s Associate Provost for Academic Space, reporting directly to the Provost and advising on planning and managing space and facilities-related projects in support of Brown University’s academic mission. A critical aspect of the role is serving as a liaison between faculty and Facilities Management, helping to understand and convey the space and infrastructure needs of faculty, and to identify and advocate for approaches and solutions to meet scholarly goals within budgetary parameters.

Rod joined the Brown community in 1990, and has held a number of academic and administrative positions. In his role as Senior Associate Dean for academic programs for the School of Engineering, he was instrumental in facilitating the successful development of the Engineering Research Center, an 80,000-sf lab building that was completed in October 2017, ensuring it met the school’s teaching, research, and community priorities.

He has published 83 scientific and technical papers (with 2700+ citations) on semiconductor materials, epitaxy, and devices. His current research emphasizes engineering innovations for decarbonization and electrification of the economy. He has worked on molecular beam epitaxial growth of III-V semiconductors since 1987, and served on the Advisory Board of the North American MBE Conference. He earned BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from Yale University, and the PhD in electrical engineering from Columbia University.

Gallery images (right, from top): Engineering Research Center — Brook St. facade, ERC commons, Beresford lab molecular-beam epitaxy system, high-resolution TEM image by A. Schwartzman, collage by Charles A. Harris.