Leadership transition at ISN

Dear Colleagues,

I write to share the news that John “JJ” Joannopoulos plans to retire in January 2026, after more than 50 outstanding years as a member of the MIT faculty, and he will step down as director of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) at that time. With deep gratitude for his leadership, I am now launching a search for John’s successor to lead ISN. I welcome your suggestions and interest.

As director of ISN since 2006, John has overseen a program unique at MIT for its focus on helping soldiers to survive in high-risk environments. ISN research has engaged more than 100 MIT principal investigators from 15 DLCIs with collaborations in areas like trauma medicine, quantum science, hazard detection, and tough materials, producing dozens of lifesaving technologies now in use in VA hospitals, airports, and in the field. Under John’s leadership, ISN has also expanded campus collaborations with MIT Lincoln Laboratory; opened its facilities for advanced imaging and materials characterization to hundreds of researchers; and enabled UROPs to participate in ISN research.

As the Francis Wright Davis Professor of Physics, John has pursued exceptional research of his own that blends theory and application, ranging from ab-initio investigations of material systems to the practical development of photonic crystals and the remarkable phenomena they can produce. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Most recently, as highlighted in MIT News, he was awarded the 2024-2025 James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award, a reflection of the MIT faculty’s highest esteem for his career-wide accomplishments, in both his research and his attentive mentoring of students and aspiring entrepreneurs.

ISN is a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC) funded under contract with the U.S. Army to apply MIT’s strengths in fundamental nanotechnology research to projects that would make exceptional improvements to the protection, survivability, and mission capabilities of military units. In collaboration with industry, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Army, and U.S. military services, ISN transitions promising technologies to both commercial and defense applications. The director of ISN oversees an annual operating budget of about $11 million and maintains strong relationships with the Army program management team and key collaborators.

To advise me on the search for the next director of ISN, I have asked Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry, to lead a search advisory group that will seek to understand ISN’s needs for its next leader and offer insights on possible faculty candidates. The members of the search advisory group are listed below. To share your thoughts on the search, nominate a faculty colleague, or submit your CV and statement of interest, please write to isndirectorsearch@mit.edu. Your submissions will be treated as confidential.

Sincerely,

Ian A. Waitz
Vice President for Research

Search advisory group

• Chair: Timothy Swager, John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry
• Keith Nelson, Haslam and Dewey Professor of Chemistry
• Tomás Palacios, Clarence J. Lebel Professor in Electrical Engineering, Director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories
• William (Bill) Peters, Executive Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
• Markus Buehler, Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering
• Scott Manalis, David H. Koch (1962) Professor in Engineering
• Tess Smidt, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Nuh Gedik, Donner Professor of Physics