Susan C. Matts

Susan C. Matts, Associate Professor of Physics, earned a Ph.D. (1983) in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida and a B.A. (1976) in physics and mathematics from Gettysburg College. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Matts spent 11 years as a member of the research staff at the Xerox Webster Research Center where she conducted basic research in the areas of electronic materials physics and digital printing devices.
Dr. Matts’ research interests are primarily concerned with the electronic and optical properties of microelectronic systems. Specific areas of interest include the interplay among naturally occurring defects, interfaces and environment in altering microelectronic reliability, metrology issues in integrated circuit reliability, and detailing the technological transition from electronics to optoelectronics to optics.
She is a member of the American Physical Society, the American Vacuum Society, and the Council on Undergraduate Research. Dr. Matts has received a number of grants, both external and internal, for personal and undergraduate research and was part of the UMW team that procured a National Science Foundation grant for a variable-pressure scanning electron microscope for UMW. She was selected as a UMW Jepson Fellow for 2004-05.
She previously received a Corporate Research Individual Achievement Award from the Xerox Corporation and an Outstanding Professor Award from Hanover College in Indiana. Dr. Matts has published and presented her work in solid state physics, materials science and engineering, microelectronics, and optics nationally.