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Joanna Millunchick
IU Bloomington

Joanna Millunchick

Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering

Expert Bio

Joanna Millunchick is the dean of the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at IU Bloomington and the School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI. She is also a professor of intelligent systems engineering at the Luddy School with a research focus on equity-centered engineering, in which she studies the benefits of participating in co-curricular engineering activities and how to transfer those benefits to attract and retain students.

Millunchick started her career at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, rising through the ranks to associate professor in 2004; full professor in 2010; and associate dean for undergraduate education in 2017. While at Michigan, she had two distinct areas of research: materials science and equity-centered engineering education. For materials science, she developed nanoscale semiconductors for optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. For equity-centered engineering education, she studied how to teach the physical sciences more equitably by examining both pedagogical approaches and developing new virtual and augmented reality tools.

She has won numerous fellowships and awards; organized and served on committees for dozens of domestic and international conferences; served as editor or referee for several journals; taken part in numerous panels, organized colloquia, and chaired or co-chaired various task forces in engineering and materials science; and conducted invited presentations throughout the U.S. and abroad. 

Millunchick earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University in 1995 and her Bachelor of Science in physics from DePaul University in Chicago in 1990. During her undergraduate studies she was one of the only women in the program, an experience that led her to focus on increasing the number of underrepresented populations in science during her professional career.

Areas of Expertise

Material science, engineering education, nanotechnology, semiconductors, equity-centered education, microscopy, computing, informatics, engineering, computer science.