Nick Vamivakas

Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA)

As dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, Nick Vamivakas oversees the administration of more than 40 master's and doctoral degree programs and postdoctoral trainees across Arts, Sciences & Engineering (AS&E). In his role as dean, he also provides programming and services to support the social, career, and educational needs of our graduate and postdoctoral learners.

Toward this end, Vamivakas works with faculty and students to develop graduate education initiatives, strengthen AS&E's commitment to sophisticated and professional programs of study, and create greater support, professional development, and networking opportunities for postdoctoral researchers.

Vamivakas joined the Institute of Optics in 2011. He has received multiple grants for his work, including a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award. He has also received the University’s G. Graydon ’58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Nontenured Faculty Teaching Excellence, the Edmund A. Hajim Outstanding Faculty Award from the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, and the Mandel Faculty Fellow Award. In 2013, he was awarded the Young Scientist Prize in Quantum Electronics from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

Along with being an accomplished researcher, Vamivakas is a gifted teacher known for his high energy, passion, and ability to explain complex concepts in simpler terms. He studied electrical engineering at Boston University, receiving his PhD in 2008. Afterward, he was a postdoc in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.

In addition to research and teaching, Vamivakas helps organize the Institute of Optic’s annual weeklong summer Photon Camp, a program aimed at getting high school students interested in optics.