Professor Anthony Muscat is the new head of the department of chemical and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona. He began his new role October 1, succeeding James A. Field, now the College’s assistant dean of graduate studies. 

“Jim actively involved the ChEE faculty in governing the department and was a strong proponent of student-centered education,” Muscat said. “I am excited to take the baton from him and begin the next phase of our development.”

Muscat joined the department in 1998 as an assistant professor in the Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing, a multi-university center housed in the department. He studies how chemicals interact on surfaces of electronic components used in semiconductors, computer chips and sensors, and how to produce more productive and sustainable devices for communications, energy and medicine. Just before starting his new position he was in Belgium, presenting two papers at the world’s leading conference on ultraclean processing of semiconductor surfaces.

Muscat is widely recognized for his research and teaching. He has received a da Vinci Circle Fellowship from the UA College of Engineering, a Career Award from the National Science Foundation, and an APS Professorship from the Arizona Public Service Power Company. As APS Professor, Muscat has taught undergraduate and graduate classes focused on entrepreneurialism in the UA College of Engineering and Eller College of Management.

“Anthony’s expertise in applied research for industry and his commitment to student mentoring will further boost ChEE’s reputation as a department that turns out well-trained engineers fully prepared to enter the workforce,” said Jeff Goldberg, dean of the College of Engineering.

More than half of ChEE undergraduates are enrolled in the UA Honors College, with most getting research experience and all at least one internship. ChEE students also get practical experience working on projects in the department’s three student clubs.

“We put a lot of time and energy into professional mentoring; telling students exactly what opportunities are out there for chemists, mathematicians and environmental engineers," said Muscat. "As a professor, I may have up to 60 students in a course. I really take pride in personalizing the experience for all of them and hope to expand that to my new role as chair of the department.”

Muscat received his BS in chemical engineering from the University of California, Davis, in 1982; his MS and PhD in chemical engineering from Stanford University in 1983 and 1993, respectively, with a stint in between as a postdoc at the Université Laval in Quebec; and a second postdoc assignment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Outside his office, lab and classroom, Muscat is an avid runner, movie buff and opera fan. He and his wife, Rachel, have season tickets to Arizona Opera and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and can often be found in a Tucson theater early on Saturday mornings watching broadcasts of “Live from the Metropolitan Opera.”