Walk with Wente: Oana Jurchescu, PhD
President Wente walks and talks with Dr. Jurchescu about flexible electronics and how they will change the way we interact with technology and improve our lives. They discuss her love of experimental physics research and her love of teaching. She wants her students to “approach every problem in life with the mind of a scientist.”
More about Oana Jurchescu:
Baker Family Professor of Physics
Oana Jurchescu, the Baker Family Professor of Physics, has made significant contributions to the fields of experimental condensed matter physics and organic and flexible electronics. Jurchescu leads the University’s Organic and Flexible Electronics research lab, which investigates organic and hybrid electronics. The technology has the potential to address unique applications, such as artificial skin, smart bandages, flexible displays, and wearable electronics. In 2022, she brought the first NSF Special Creativity Award to Wake Forest for group research to shorten the path from concept to commercialization for organic semiconductors.
In addition to the National Science Foundation, her research is funded by the Office of Naval Research and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Her work, featured in more than 100 publications and four invited book chapters, has garnered international recognition and earned four patents.
During her 15 years as a teacher-scholar at Wake Forest, Jurchescu has mentored undergraduate, graduate and high-school students as well as postdoctoral researchers. Her undergraduate physics mentees won NSF graduate fellowships, the LeRoy Apker Award, Churchill scholarships, and Goldwater scholarships.
Jurchescu has given more than 60 invited or plenary talks at major international conferences and served in a variety of capacities, including conference chair, for more than 30 conferences, such as the American Physical Society (APS), the Materials Research Society (MRS), International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) meetings. She has been awarded numerous accolades, including the Pegram Award from American Physical Society for excellence in teaching and mentoring, the Graduate School Student Association Faculty Excellence Award, URECA Award for Excellence in Mentorship in Research and Creative Work, and the Reid-Doyle Prize for Excellence in Teaching. She delivered the 2024 Poteat Lecture, Printed Flexible Electronics: Making a Big Impact with Small Circuits.” She is an associate editor for the Journal of Materials Chemistry C (Royal Society of Chemistry) and Science Advances (American Association for the Advancement of Science) and serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Chemical Physics Reviews, Organic Electronics, and Journal of Physics Materials.
In March, Jurchescu was elected a 2025 Fellow of the Materials Research Society, a prestigious honor recognizing the most accomplished members of the global materials research community. This distinction, awarded to only approximately 0.2% of MRS members annually, highlights Jurchescu’s significant and sustained contributions to the field of organic electronic materials. She is a founding member of Wake Forest’s Center for Functional Materials. The Center provides a platform to connect a broad range of materials-focused research groups and supports the multidisciplinary research necessary for breakthrough developments.
Research Highlights
Keep Watching
Walk with Wente: Nina Lucas
President Wente walks and talks with Nina Lucas, Professor of Dance, about how combining dance and academics is a win-win for students at Wake Forest.
Walk with Wente: Kevin Jung, PhD
President Wente walks and talks with Kevin Jung, Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy, about how his work addresses big questions about finding reality, the meaning of life and how one should live their lives.
Walk with Wente: Jennifer Greiman, PhD
President Wente walks and talks with Greiman about how 18th- and 19th-century American literature can inform our approach to today’s issues, especially about democracy.
Categories: Walk with Wente