Peter Voorhees Looks Back on Career at Northwestern Engineering

In September 2025, Northwestern Engineering’s Peter Voorhees transitioned to emeritus status after a distinguished and multifaceted career. A member of the McCormick faculty since 1988, Voorhees made a notable impact on the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), the University community, and the field of materials science. 

Twice the chair of MSE and a leader in the research of kinetics phase transformations, Voorhees treasures the department’s heritage and the importance of continuing one of its proudest traditions. 

“I have long felt that I was given a gift by the founders of the department of a legacy of collaborative interdisciplinary research,” Voorhees said. “One of the primary objectives during my career at Northwestern was to ensure that this legacy continues.”   

One way the department is doing that is via the establishment of the Peter Voorhees Scholarship Fund to support future materials science students. Voorhees is greatly appreciative of that recognition. 

“I am profoundly honored and deeply touched to have a fund established in my name with the objective of supporting the next generation of materials scientists,” Voorhees said.  “The scholarship will foster my central mission at Northwestern, which is to educate students in the classroom and laboratory. I am deeply grateful.” 

In a Q&A, Voorhees reflected on his career, the importance of interdisciplinary research, and looked ahead to the future of materials science research.

What continues to excite you about the future of materials science?

Any new technology requires materials, ranging from quantum computers to structural materials and regenerative medicine. I expect there always will be a huge array of interesting and exciting research problems in materials science and engineering that address society’s greatest concerns.   

From your early days as a researcher to a long career at Northwestern, how did your scientific interests and professional priorities evolve over time—and what influenced the direction your career ultimately took?

When I began my career, I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to work in so many different areas. This is a result of the interdisciplinary, collaborative research that is deeply imbedded in the culture of the department. I have benefited enormously from many conversations with colleagues that have sparked new ideas, collaborations, and many exciting new research directions.

Your research has addressed a wide range of materials systems, from alloy solidification to batteries and graphene. What core scientific questions have remained constant for you across those different areas?

Creating materials involves a transformation from one phase to another, vapor to solid in graphene growth, liquid to solid in alloy castings, and solid-state transformations. My research has been focused on the underlying phenomena that govern these phase transformation processes, which has enabled me to work in many subfields of materials science and engineering. 

You’ve consistently integrated experiments, simulations, and theory in your work. Why was that combination important to you, and how did it shape the kinds of problems you chose to pursue?

Integrating experiments, simulation and theory fosters synergies that are not otherwise possible, leading to novel and interesting results. This approach also provides unique training opportunities for graduate students and postdocs.

Materials science has changed significantly over the course of your career, particularly in terms of computational tools and interdisciplinarity. What shifts have had the greatest impact on how the field operates today?

The importance of theory and simulation has increased. Some of this is a result of the increase in speed and decrease in cost of computations. This has allowed calculations that were unimaginable at the start of my career to now be routine. This has also affected the student experience in classrooms. What was formerly a PhD thesis-level calculation is now a homework problem. Computer simulations are now routinely incorporated into student coursework.

You’ve worked closely with generations of graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty. What qualities do you think matter most for young researchers trying to build a meaningful and lasting career?

One of these qualities is to identify areas of research where a new investigator can contribute something distinctive, whether through an innovative concept or unique capability. This can involve moving into new fields of research. Changing fields is extremely stimulating and occasionally challenging, but these transitions are often when groundbreaking discoveries are made.