September 2009 Professor Matthew Z. Yates was recently appointed Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester, beginning a three-year term running through 2012. He received his bachelor's degree from Tulane University (1994) and his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas (1999). He joined the University of Rochester in 2001 after a two year appointment as Director's Postdoctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since joining Rochester, he has developed an independent program focused on the synthesis and assembly of small particles and membranes for a wide range of applications including drug delivery and fuel cells. His research effort has been supported by the Department of Energy, American Chemical Society, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, State of New York, and Eastman Kodak Company. Yates will succeed Professor Shaw H. Chen who has served as department chair since 2000.