(October 3, 2019) Assistant Professor Guoliang "Greg" Liu has been approved as the recipient of the Blackwood Junior Faculty Fellowship by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The Blackwood Junior Faculty Fellowship was established in the College of Science through a generous donation from Mary Nolen Blackwood ’73 and Willis P. Blackwood ’72. Mary and Willis Blackwood established the fellowship in 2006 to provide support for a leading faculty member who holds the rank of assistant or associate professor to forward the advancement of the life sciences with a complementary focus on the development of business and/or entrepreneurial opportunities. Prof. Liu will hold the fellowship for three years with possible renewal.

Prof. Liu joined the Department of Chemistry in 2014 as an assistant professor, following three years as a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 2011. In his five years as  a faculty member, he has guided 9 graduate students and 22 undergraduate students on research projects and has taught a number of courses, including General Chemistry, Polymer Nanomaterials, and Nanomaterials for Energy & Environmental Sciences.

Along with strong mentorship, Prof. Liu has developed an impressive scholarship record, with at least 50 publications in nano science, chemistry and engineering journals, 16 patents, and 49 invited or keynote presentations at professional conferences and universities. His research expertise has been recognized with funding; he was recently awarded the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) CAREER Award for his "Directed Self-Assembly of 2D Plasmonic Nanoparticles in Block Copolymer Nanofibers to Form Hierarchical Nanostructures" project. In total, he is the Principal or co-Investigator on more than $3.5 million in extramural funding.