DR. PURUSOTTAM JENA
Department of Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University

Bio
Dr. Jena received his early education in Utkal University, India leading to Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1964 and Master of Science in Physics in 1966. After completing his Ph. D. degree in Physics at the University of California at Riverside in 1970, he held postdoctoral appointments at a number of U.S. universities. With the exception a year from 1986-87 when he assumed the position of Program Director at the Materials Science Division of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Jena has remained on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University since 1980. Dr. Jena’s research covers a wide range of topics in condensed matter, atomic, and molecular Physics. These include electronic structure of metals, semiconductors, superconductors, alloys, and liquid metals; point and complex defects; surfaces and thin films, atomic clusters and cluster assembled materials, nanoscience and technology. His current research involves three major areas: nanoclusters and cluster based materails, alternate energy, and spintronics. Dr. Jena is the author of more than 360 papers including editor of 10 conference proceedings. He has given over three hundred invited talks in international conferences and academic institutions in nearly 25 countries around the world. He has organized more than thirty international conferences and has served as member of scientific panels for the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and Army research Office.

State Department Profile
Dr. Jena worked extensively on the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) organized by the Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science. He was in charge of coordinating the R&D sessions for the WIREC conference, a high-level gathering with over 9000 participants, for which he recruited speakers, panelists and moderators from academia, industry, and government laboratories. Following the conference Dr. Jena edited a conference report that was distributed worldwide. An abridged version of this report, emphasizing R&D needs in renewable energies, has appeared in a number of scientific and engineering bulletins and journals. Dr. Jena also proposed and developed ideas for U.S. regional partnerships on renewable energies, focusing the initial strategies on Nordic countries, followed by South American countries and consulted the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy for their support. Dr. Jena plans to stay involved with this initiative, as well as to advance Virginia Commonwealth University’s involvement with public policy and the State Department.