“ERVA is creating an exciting platform for the engineering research community to look into the future collectively and collaboratively, and to focus our most impactful endeavors on addressing national and global challenges.”
Grace Wang is the President at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Previously she joined The Ohio State University in December 2020 as executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge enterprise, where she plays a lead role in expanding the university’s cutting-edge research, enhancing creative expression and scholarship, stimulating entrepreneurship, and building strategic partnerships.
Wang has nearly 20 years of experience in research and economic development. Prior to OSU, she held dual roles as senior vice chancellor for research and economic development at the State University of New York System and interim president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. At SUNY, Wang led its research enterprise with about $1.7 billion in annual expenditures. She advanced a research and economic development growth strategy, expanding its research capacity in key strategic areas. She was instrumental in establishing large-scale strategic partnerships at SUNY that advanced SUNY’s research and development capacity while fueling regional economic growth.
Prior to SUNY, Wang served as acting assistant director for engineering at the National Science Foundation. In this role, she led the engineering directorate at NSF, managing a funding portfolio of more than $900 million dedicated to investments in frontier engineering research, supporting engineering education, and fostering innovation and technology commercialization. She previously served as NSF's deputy assistant director for engineering, overseeing the operation of the Directorate for Engineering and helping to identify and implement research, innovation, and education priorities.
Wang began her career at IBM/Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, focusing on research and development of magnetic thin film and carbon overcoat for data storage. She holds seven U.S. patents.
Wang was also a professor in the department of materials design and innovation at the University at Buffalo. Wang earned a doctoral degree in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University.