Office of the Vice President for Research

Richard McCullough was appointed Vice President for Research at Carnegie Mellon University in July 2007.

Previously, McCullough served as the Dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Rick came to Carnegie Mellon in 1990 as an Assistant Professor and quickly rose through the tenure ranks, being promoted to Associate Professor in 1995 and Professor in 1998. In 1998, he assumed the role of department head of chemistry. He was appointed Dean of the Mellon College of Science in 2001. Under his tenure, the college experienced record enrollment in many of its programs and saw a steady increase in research initiatives.

McCullough is internationally known as the world's expert in printable organic electronics, the synthesis and development of regioregular polythiophenes. His research focuses on understanding the structure-property relationships displayed by these materials and the development of new organic transistors and solar cells.

In addition to his position at Carnegie Mellon, McCullough is also the Chief Scientist and founder of Plextronics, Inc., the world leader in developing active layer technology for printed electronics devices, such as organic light-emitting diodr displays, polymer solar cells and plastic circuitry. Since its inception in 2002, the Pittsburgh company has grown to 70 employees and received numerous honors, among them being named the 2006 Start-up of the Year by the Organic Semiconductors Industry, one of the top 10 start-ups by Greentech and inclusion in the Red Herring 100 in 2007.

McCullough holds a Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. from The University of Texas at Dallas. Download McCullough's CV [.pdf]