Chris G. Van de Walle

Chris G. Van de Walle is a professor in the Materials Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1986.^[1] Prior to joining UCSB in 2004, he was a principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). His research interests include first-principles calculations for materials, defects and doping in semiconductors and oxides, surfaces and interfaces, and the physics of hydrogen in materials.^[2][3] Van de Walle is a Fellow of the APS, MRS, AAAS, AVS, and IEEE. He is the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award for Senior US Scientist, the Medard W. Welch Award,^[4] and the David Adler Lectureship Award in the Field of Materials Physics from the APS.

Chris G. Van de Walle
Nationality	Belgian
Citizenship	US, Belgian
Known for	First-principles calculations for materials Model solid approximation
Awards	Aneesur Rahman Prize (2025) Medard W. Welch Award (2013) David Adler Lectureship Award (2002) Humboldt Research Award (1998)
Scientific career
Fields	Condensed matter physics Materials science
Institutions	University of California, Santa Barbara,
Doctoral advisor	Richard Martin