Prof. Theda Daniels-Race earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. Preceded by an MS and BS in the same field from Stanford and Rice universities, respectively, she was introduced to Chemistry by the late Nobel Laureate, Professor Richard E. Smalley.  While a faculty member in electrical engineering at Duke University, she established their first molecular beam epitaxy laboratory for the growth and characterization of III-V semiconductors. Currently, she is an M. B. Voorhies Distinguished Professor in the Division of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE), with joint appointment to the Center for Computation and Technology, at Louisiana State University.  At LSU, she is the founder and principal investigator of the NEST (Nano Electronic Structures & Technology) Lab and is director of the ECE Division’s Electronic Devices and Materials Laboratory. Daniels-Race has served as a Committee of Visitors evaluator of both the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy.  Awarded as a Professor of Excellence by the multinational Worley Corporation, she is also an ELATES (Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering & Sciences) Fellow. Daniels-Race’s  research in the fields of hybrid nanoelectronic materials, thin film deposition, and electro-optical characterization using AFM, Raman and fluorescence spectroscopies has generated a combined total of over 100 publications, presentations, and invited lectures.