Zhen-Gang Wang, the Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering at Caltech and executive officer for chemical engineering, has been selected for induction into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). The new 2025 cohort, comprising 128 inductees and 22 international members, was revealed on February 11.

As stated in the NAE’s official announcement, Wang was chosen for membership “for integrating theories of thermodynamic and transport characteristics of polymers to forecast phase behavior, self-assembly, and nucleation.”

Wang’s investigations leverage statistical mechanics to connect the microscopic—the attributes of molecules—with the macroscopic: the behavior of materials ranging from fluids to gels to polymers under various circumstances. Although the statistical and computational methodologies employed by Wang might appear intricate, he claims that his laboratory’s investigations are inspired by a saying from Josiah Willard Gibbs, a 19th-century American physicist and pioneer in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics: “One of the principal objects of theoretical research . . . is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in its greatest simplicity.” Starting with an overarching perspective, Wang utilizes statistical mechanics to delve into the specifics of a challenge.

Wang received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Beijing University in 1982 and his PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1987. A member of Caltech’s faculty since 1991, Wang has garnered numerous accolades, including Caltech’s Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2008.

Additionally, three alumni from Caltech were also recognized in the 2025 cohort: Charles Crouse (PhD ’74), principal engineer at AECOM, a civil engineering company located in Seattle; Julie Sheridan Eng (BS ’89), chief technology officer for Coherent Corp. in Los Altos, California, a manufacturer of optical devices and semiconductors; and Subbaiah Malladi (PhD ’80), chief technical officer and principal engineer at Exponent, a scientific and engineering consulting company based in Menlo Park, California.

The 2025 class will be officially inducted at a ceremony during NAE’s annual gathering on October 5.