Chancellor Carlo Montemagno Excellence Scholarship

Dr. Carlo Montemagno was a visionary with over three decades of experience in shepherding complex organizations both inside and outside academia. Working as a builder, he led organizations in government, industry and higher education during periods of change and challenge to achieve goals that many perceived to be unattainable.

Dr. Montemagno supported the vision that the fields of science, technology, and medicine should not define the universe of collaborative engagement. He believed that societal and artistic advancement played a central role in establishing a culture of inquiry that defines a great research university. He worked to establish a culture of multi- disciplinary engagement that was as broad as possible, to produce students who are educated to be the change agents of the future.

“My education strategy is directed at empowering individuals with the skills to enable a lifetime of success and prosperity. Students see themselves as innovators and entrepreneurs; they want to be capable of working at the very edge where world-changing knowledge unfolds.”

Dr. Montemagno joined the campus as the 20th chancellor of the SIU campus in August 2017. He created a roadmap to secure the university’s future; earned the respect and commitment of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members; and was an unwavering proponent of the university’s mission. That mission was realized in his vision for intercollegiate athletics. “Intercollegiate athletics at a comprehensive research institution like SIU is a critical component of our community engagement and an attraction for students. Athletics generates spirit, pride and loyalty among our students, alumni and community.”

Dr. Montemagno was an internationally recognized expert in nanotechnology and bioengineering. He was awarded the Feynman Prize for Experimental Work in Nanotechnology in 2003 for his work in the “Integration of Biological Molecular Motors with Silicon Devices.” He was also the winner of the 2012 Bill & Melinda Gates Grand Challenges Explorations. His research programs resulted in at least 45 patents.

He served as U.S. Naval Officer working with the U.S. Department of Energy; Group Leader with Argonne National Laboratories at the University of Chicago; Director of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program at Cornell University; founding Department Chair of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles; founding Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati; and founder of the interdisciplinary Ingenuity Lab based at the University of Alberta in Canada.

His educational background included a Bachelor’s in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Cornell University; a Master’s in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from Pennsylvania State University; and a Doctorate in Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame.

• Scholarship for a student-athlete who has completed at least 60 credit hours with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0.