The UCSB Materials Department congratulates alumnus John L. Lyons, Ph.D. (’12), on his election as a 2025 Fellow of the American Physical Society, a prestigious honor awarded to fewer than 0.5% of members each year.

Lyons, now a scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, is recognized for his fundamental contributions to the understanding and design of wide-band-gap semiconductors, including advances in semiconductor doping and exciton physics. His work supports next-generation technologies in high-power electronics and radar systems.

At NRL, Lyons leads theoretical efforts to identify and design new semiconductor materials using predictive modeling, helping accelerate the development of materials with improved performance and efficiency.

Lyons earned his Ph.D. from UCSB in 2012 and continued his research at UCSB as a postdoctoral scholar in the group of Chris Van de Walle.