Erich E. Kunhardt

Who is Erich E. Kunhardt?

Erich E. Kunhardt is a Professor of applied physics at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and a special advisor to the Institute's President. He was born in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic on May 31, 1949, moving to the United States in 1956. Kunhardt holds a Ph.D. in Electrophysics from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and bachelor's and master's degrees from New York University. In 1992, he received an honorary doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Electrophysics. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award and the Halliburton Foundation Excellence in Research Award. In October 10, 2006 he was appointed Provost by the Polytechnic Institute. Previously, he had served as the dean of the Arthur E. Imperatore School of Sciences and Arts and the George Meade Bond Professor of Physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he had been a faculty member since 1992, and pioneered the establishment of its Plasma Physics Laboratory. He held the Polytechnic Provost position until March, 2009, when he returned to full-time research and teaching, and assumed the role of "invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship" advisor to the President and the new Provost.