Biography

Robert G. Lindquist, Ph.D., has served as the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) since May 2018. In this role, Dr. Lindquist oversees all aspects of research development, contract and grant accounting, research compliance and ethics, and commercialization in order to support UAH’s mission to continue being an internationally recognized, comprehensive research-intensive university.

During his time at UAH, the university has seen record growth in research expenditures. As the anchor tenant in Cummings Research Park and with close proximity to Redstone Arsenal, UAH and the Office for Research and Economic Development continue to successfully partner with industry and federal agencies, growing our research expenditures while contributing to the academic mission of the university, economic growth in our community, and the advancement of discoveries and progress across the U.S. and around the world.

While serving at UAH, Dr. Lindquist has held a variety of administrative positions, including Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Vice President for Contracts and Grants, Director of the Center for Applied Optics and Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also serves as a professor and active researcher, having secured millions in research funding as the principal investigator for NSF, NASA, the Army and industry during his tenure.

Prior to coming to UAH in 2003, Dr. Lindquist worked at Corning’s Sullivan Park Research and Development Center, where he was a Senior Research Scientist and the Liquid Crystal Technology Manager. At Corning, he invented, developed and built liquid crystal components that enabled the product launch of Corning’s PurePath Wavelength Selective Switch and Dynamic Spectral Equalizer. Dr. Lindquist was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 1992.

Dr. Lindquist has over 140 publications to his credit and holds 15 patents.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

• Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1992
• B.S., Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1986

Expertise

• Liquid crystal device design & fabrication
• Nano and microfabrication processes
• Liquid-crystal based chemical and biological sensors

Recent Publications

• R. Lindquist, D. L. Forti, A. Tareki, and J. Guo, "Tunable metamaterial in the terahertz regime using liquid crystal," SPIE Optics and Photonics Annual Conference, August 25-29, 2013, San Diego, California, USA. (Invited Talk)

• Yongbin Lin, Mollye Sanders, Taylor Bono, Krishnan Chittur, Robert Lindquist, "Improved nanofabrication for plasmonic nanostructures on optical-fiber tip for biosensors." SPIE Optics+Photonics, San Diego, CA, 27 - 29 August 2013. (Invited talk)

• R.G. Lindquist, "Roles of Liquid Crystals in Optical Microsystems," International Symposium on Photonics and Optoelectronics 2013, Beijing, China, May 2013. (Invited Talk)