Nitin P. Padture is the [Otis E. Randall University Professor](https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/05/corporation) in the [School of Engineering](http://brown.edu/academics/engineering/) (Materials Science) at [Brown University](http://www.brown.edu/), and founding Director of the [Initiative for Sustainable Energy (ISE)](https://ise.brown.edu/). He received B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering from [Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay](http://www.iitb.ac.in/) (1985), M.S. in Ceramic Engineering from [Alfred University](http://www.alfred.edu/) (1987), and Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from [Lehigh University](http://www.lehigh.edu/) (1991). Padture was a postdoctoral fellow at the [National Institute of Standards and Technology](http://www.nist.gov/) (Gaithersburg, MD) for 3 years, before joining the [University of Connecticut](http://www.uconn.edu/) (UConn) faculty in January 1995 as Assistant Professor. He became Associate Professor in 1998 and Professor in 2003. Padture served as Interim Department Head at UConn for one year before moving to The [Ohio State University](http://www.osu.edu/) (OSU) in January 2005. At OSU he was College of Engineering Distinguished Professor, and also founding Director of the NSF-funded [Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC](http://www.cem.osu.edu/)). He moved to Brown University in January 2012, and most recently he served as Director of Brown's Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation for about eight years.  Padture's research interests are in advanced ceramics and nanomaterials, for applications ranging from solar photovoltaics to jet engines for renewable energy and energy efficiency. His research has been funded by NSF, DOE, ONR, AFOSR, ARO, DARPA, DOEdu, state governments, private foundations, and industry. Padture's teaching interests include: Introductory Materials Science & Engineering; Mechanical Behavior of Materials; and Introductory Composite Materials. Padture has authored or co-authored 300 publications, including 9 awarded patents, which have been cited about 42,000 times total ([Google Scholar](http://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=j3u9KgoAAAAJ); *h*-index 101). Padture has delivered 300 invited/ keynote/ plenary talks and seminars in the US and abroad. (Please see CV for complete lists.) A Fellow of the [American Ceramic Society](http://ceramics.org/), Padture has received that society's Roland B. Snow, Robert L. Coble, and Richard M. Fulrath awards. He is also a Fellow of the [American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)](https://www.aaas.org/) and the [Materials Research Society (MRS)](http://www.mrs.org/). Padture is the recipient of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award, and he received both the Distinguished Service Award and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his *alma mater*, IIT-Bombay. Recently he was awarded the Brown University [Presidential Faculty Award](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WDbX1axt6U). Padture is Editor of the international journals *[Acta Materialia](https://www.journals.elsevier.com/acta-materialia)* and *[Scripta Materialia](https://www.journals.elsevier.com/Scripta-Materialia).*