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| Julia Chan, Assistant Professor, Chemistry LSU professor a chemical, musical superconductor
It’s not easy being 30 and being labeled as someone who is expected to have a significant impact on chemistry during this century. In fact, it’s not easy being anyone expected to have a significant impact during a particular century, especially when that impact is to come in chemistry. And yet, Julia Chan—all 5-feet, 4-inches of her—has been given that label. Earlier in the year, she was chosen as one of 12 women around the country who have been, or will be profiled by Chemical and Engineering News as part of the journal’s celebration of 75 years of women in science. And yet, when asked what impact she thinks she’s had or will have, she unassumingly answers, “I don’t know.” But as humble as Chan appears, she is equally quick-witted. “I didn’t even think about science until the middle of my college career,” she said. “I just try to have a good time. I’m not trying to win the Nobel Prize; I’m just trying to do good work.”
She can find as much enjoyment determining the structure and magnetic properties of nanostructured materials, as she can running a bow across the strings of her violin. Balance, she says, is key. After all, when she was deciding on college after high school, she chose Baylor University—not for its chemistry department, but for its music school. Originally from California, Chan’s work has taken her from Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. But in all that time, one of the most important things Chan learned was how to combine disciplines, thereby producing some of the best results. Her collaboration with colleague David Young, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at LSU, led to the discovery of several new superconductors. At the University of California, Davis, while completing work for her Ph.D., Chan found a mentor and a role model in her adviser Susan M. Kauzlarich. Kauzlarich not only taught her students to enjoy science, but also included them in her collaborators' meetings. Today, Chan continues those ideals, emphasizing the joy of her students’ work and having them collaborate with others outside their disciplines. “She (Chan) is a very energetic and enthusiastic professor who really cares about students’ learning,” said Saundra McGuire, adjunct professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Academic Success. “She challenges them to think about the concepts and not just memorize.
“I recently presented (at a conference) in Washington, D.C., and almost everyone I saw asked me if I knew Julia Chan from LSU. Her passion just impresses everyone she comes into contact with.” Chan’s interdisciplinary teaching philosophy is becoming increasingly popular. Where chemists, 20 or 30 years ago, kept to themselves and worked alone, Chan is learning the languages of the physicist and materials scientist, as are her students. Her need to understand why things work, a basic tenet perhaps for all scientists, led Chan and her group to examine microwave dielectrics that cause cell phones to ring. Now if she could only figure out how to avoid roaming charges. Written by Josh Duplechain | University
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