Cathy Murphy, the Larry R. Faulkner Endowed Chair in Chemistry and head of the Department of Chemistry, has been named the interim director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. She'll begin the position Aug. 16, pending Board of Trustees approval. Murphy is a highly regarded scientist, experienced administrator, and even met Arnold Beckman when she was a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology's Beckman Institute.

Murphy will succeed Nadya Mason, who announced in July that she will become the dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation will conduct a national search for Beckman's next permanent director. From the Speech Accessibility Project to the Molecule Maker Lab and everywhere in between, the Beckman Institute’s trademark brand of barrier-breaking research is thriving and will continue to do so under Murphy's leadership.