James Ryan

Dean , NC A&T/ UNCG Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering

Dr. James G. Ryan is the founding dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering of North Carolina A&T State University and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His primary responsibilities encompass academic and administrative leadership of JSNN as well as the development of strategic partnerships with industry and government organizations. In addition to being a founding dean of JSNN, Dr. Ryan also has strong research interests in thin film deposition, interconnect technology, semiconductor manufacturing technology and radiation hardened nanoelectronics. Dr. Ryan joined JSNN after working at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany as Associate Vice President of Technology and Professor of Nanoscience from 2005 to 2008. At CNSE, he managed the cleanrooms and numerous consortia involving CNSE and its industrial partners such as IBM, TEL, AMAT, ASML and others. Dr. Ryan joined CNSE after a 25 year career with IBM. From 2003 to 2005, he was a Distinguished Engineer and Director of Advanced Materials and Process Technology Development and served as the site executive for IBM at Albany Nanotech. Prior to that assignment, Dr. Ryan managed interconnect technology groups in research, development and manufacturing engineering areas at IBM. He is the author of over 100 publications and presentations, has 52 U.S. patents and is the recipient of numerous awards including 17 IBM invention plateaus, an IBM Corporate Patent Portfolio Award, an IBM Division Patent Portfolio Award, IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards for Dual Damascene and for Copper technologies and the 1999 SRC Mahboob Khan Mentor Award. Dr. Ryan attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY where he received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry and an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering.