Retired Eminent Professor and Baucke Chair at the Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers, FL) where he was the Founding Director of the Emergent Technologies Institute for 5 years, which culminated in the building of the off-campus ETI teaching and research facility and a solar field installation. Simmons retired from the University of Arizona in 2013 after serving as Head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department since 2000. During that time, in addition to conducting research into quantum confinement and ultrafast optical processes in semiconductors, Simmons investigated new photovoltaic materials and a variety of energy storage technologies. Under the direction of Simmons, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering started unique degree-granting programs in optical materials science, computational materials research, and heritage conservation science. Simmons joined the University of Arizona as Department Head, after serving 16 years as Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Florida. His prior posts were in the Physics Department of the Catholic University of America (10 years), the National Bureau of Standards (currently NIST) (8 years) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (4 years).
Joseph Simmons graduated with a BS (University of Maryland), an MS (John Carroll University) and a PhD (Catholic University) in Physics. His studies have spanned numerous topics in condensed matter physics, optical physics and computational materials modeling and have included: (1) fundamental studies of quantum-size effects on excitons in nanoclusters, (2) time-resolved measurements of optical properties and carrier dynamics in wide bandgap semiconductors, (3) investigations of the processes underlying linear and non-linear optical behavior in inorganic glasses, including electronic Kerr non-linearity and permanent and transient photosensitivity of glass films, (4) atomistic simulations of optical and mechanical properties of various solids, and (5) non-linear viscous flow and rheological behavior of molten glasses. Simmons is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 US patents, 4 book chapters and the editor of 2 books. Simmons was the Editor of the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids for over 10 years.
