Timothy D. Sands was named the 16th president of Virginia Tech on Dec, 6, 2013. He began his term on June 1, 2014. Prior to coming to Blacksburg, Sands had served as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost of Purdue University since April 2010. Sands was acting president from June 2012 – January 2013, before Mitch Daniels became the 12th president of Purdue. In his role as acting president, Sands was responsible for leading Purdue’s West Lafayette and regional campuses.
Sands earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors in engineering physics and a master’s degree and doctorate in materials science from the University of California-Berkeley. He joined the Purdue faculty in 2002 as the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering in the schools of materials engineering and electrical and computer engineering. Prior to becoming provost, he served as the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park. From 1993-2002, Sands was a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and before that, he performed research and directed research groups at Bellcore, a New Jersey-based research company now known as Telcordia.
Sands has published more than 250 refereed papers and conference proceedings and has been granted 17 patents in electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices. His present research efforts are directed toward the development of novel nanocomposite materials for environmentally friendly and cost-effective solid-state lighting, direct conversion of heat to electrical power and thermoelectric refrigeration. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Materials Research Society (MRS) and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
