Bio

Roseanna N. Zia

Dave Wollersheim Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Address: E3410 Lafferre Hall

Email: rzia@missouri.edu

Phone: 573.882.6555

Roseanna N. Zia is the Dave Wollersheim Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She received her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering in 2011 with Professor John F. Brady, for development of theory in colloidal hydrodynamics. Zia subsequently conducted post-doctoral study of colloidal gels at Princeton University, in collaboration with Professor William B. Russel. Zia began her faculty career at Cornell University in January 2013, then subsequently moved her research group to Stanford University in 2017, becoming a tenured professor of Chemical Engineering. She moved her research group to MU in 2023.

Her research includes developing micro-continuum theory for structure-property relationships of flowing suspensions, elucidating the mechanistic origins of the colloidal glass transition, and multi-scale computational modeling of reversibly bonded colloidal gels. She later combined this foundation of study of nonliving suspensions with study of biological cells. Using this platform, her research group has begun to unlock fundamental connections between colloidal-scale physics and life-essential processes in biological cells to shed light on the matter/life nexus.

Zia’s work has been recognized by multiple awards, including a Sloane Foundation Grant, two PECASE Awards, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Director of Research Early Career Award, the ONR Young Investigator award, the NSF CAREER Award, the NSF BRIGE Award, the Publication Award from the Society of Rheology, the Engineering Sonny Yau (’72) Teaching Award and the Tau Beta Pi Teaching Honor Roll Award. Most recently, she was named an Otterson Faculty Fellow at Stanford. She has delivered over 80 invited, keynote, and plenary talks, and several award lectures.

Zia serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Rheology, and on the Advisory Boards of the AIChE Journal and the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from California Institute of Technology
  • M.S. in Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering from University of Michigan
  • BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Missouri

Experience

  • Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, University of Missouri (2023-2024)
  • Wollersheim Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri (2023-present)
  • Associate Professor with Tenure, Chemical Engineering, Stanford University (2021-2022)
  • By Courtesy, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University (2018-present)
  • Otterson Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2021-present)
  • Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Stanford University (2017-2020)
  • Terman Faculty Fellow, Stanford University School of Engineering (2017-present)
  • Assistant Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University (2013-17)
  • James C. and Rebecca Q. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow, Cornell University (2013-17)
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University (2011-12)
  • Graduate Researcher, Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (2006-11)
  • Delphi Automotive Corp., Engineering Manager, Detroit, Michigan (2001-2006)

Honors

  • Research Council, Taylor Geospatial Institute (2023)
  • Sloan Foundation Research Award (2023)
  • Named Dave Wollersheim Professor, University of Missouri (2023)
  • Corrsin Lecturer, University of Missouri College of Engineering (2021)
  • Croft Lecturer, University of Missouri College of Engineering (2021)
  • Lee Otterson Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2021)
  • Tau Beta Pi Teaching Award List, Stanford School of Engineering (2020)
  • PECASE – Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2019)
    • Nominator: Department of Defense
  • PECASE – Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2019)
    • Nominator: National Science Foundation
  • Terman Faculty Fellow, Stanford University (2017)
  • ONR Director of Research Early Career Award (2017)
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Rheology (2016)
  • Advisory Board Member, Physics of Fluids (2016)
  • NAE Frontiers in Engineering (2015)
  • Cornell College of Engineering (Sonny Yau ’72) Teaching Award (2015)
  • White House Workshop on the National Strategic Computing Initiative held by Executive Order of President Barack Obama (2015)
  • ONR Young Investigator Award (2014)
  • NAE Frontiers in Engineering Education (2014)
  • Best Paper Award in Session, AIChE Area 1J Fluid Mechanics (2014)
  • Cover of the Journal of Rheology, Special Issue, Volume 58, Issue 5 (2014)
  • Cover of the Journal of Rheology, Volume 58, Issue 1 (2014)
  • Cover of the Society of Rheology Bulletin, Q1 (2014)
  • Featured on NSF XSEDE Year 1 Retrospective Report (2014)
  • Publication of the Year, Journal of Rheology (2013)
  • NSF BRIGE Award, National Science Foundation (2013)
  • Cover of the Journal of Rheology, Volume 57, Issue 2 (2013)
  • James C. and Rebecca Q. Morgan Faculty Fellow, Cornell University (2013)
  • Best Poster, Princeton University Research Symposium, Princeton University (2012)
  • NDSEG Fellow, California Institute of Technology (2008-11)
  • Everhart Lecturer, California Institute of Technology (2011)
  • Graduate Dean’s Award, California Institute of Technology (2011)
  • P.E.O. Scholar Award, California Institute of Technology (2010)
  • Best Overall Poster, Poster Symposium, California Institute of Technology (2009)
  • First Place, Best Poster, International Congress of Rheology (2008)
  • Moore Fellow, California Institute of Technology (2006-07)
  • Honors Scholar, University of Missouri
  • President, Pi Tau Sigma Honor Society for Engineering, University of Missouri chapter
  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
  • National Merit Special Scholarship