Pantelides is the William A. and Nancy F. McMinn professor of physics and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University.
The ORNL program was established in 1992 to facilitate the involvement of distinguished scientists and engineers from universities and industries who wish to have sustained research and development relationships with ORNL programs.
Pantelides is a world-renowned theoretical physicist with a long and distinguished career in research and research management at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1994.
His research has centered on the electronic structure of impurities and point defects in semiconductors and insulators, defect dynamics and diffusion, surfaces and interfaces, and the physics of complex materials. Most recently, he has been involved in pioneering theoretical research bridging the gap between atomic-scale structure and the physical properties of real materials. His unique knowledge, capabilities and background will form the basis for a broad range of research collaborations in areas such as condensed matter theory, ion implantation, interface science and high-resolution synchrotron x-ray research.
After receiving his doctorate in 1973 in physics from the University of Illinois, Pantelides held a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. He joined the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in 1975, where he served as research staff member, manager of dynamical processes in solids, senior manager of semiconductors and insulators, technical assistant to the IBM vice president for science and technology and program director of technology and science modeling.
Following his appointment to Vanderbilt in 1994, Pantelides was named chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1995. He earlier spent a sabbatical as professor of theoretical physics at the University of Lund in Sweden.
Pantelides has published more than 150 scientific papers, edited or co-edited six books, serves on editorial boards of several journals and was a contributing columnist for The Scientist from 1987 to 1991. He has lectured at numerous conferences, universities and research centers worldwide.
He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has served as a member of the National Research Council Committee on Mathematics in Materials Science. Pantelides has also served as chairman of the Committee on Applications of Physics of the American Physical Society and as a member of several other professional society committees.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, which also manages the Oak Ridge K-25 Site and the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.