Elizabeth (Lisa) J. Podlaha-Murphy is Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Clarkson University. Her research focuses on the electrodeposition of novel alloy and composite materials for applications including water splitting for hydrogen generation, corrosion-resistant coatings, nanostructured materials for micro- and nanoscale devices, and the modeling of battery and electrochemical systems.
Prof. Podlaha-Murphy earned her BS in Chemical Engineering with a concentration in materials science and Honors Program distinction in 1986. After completing an MS and working at IBM, she returned to academia and received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University. She then completed a postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Materials Science at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
Her academic career includes appointments at Louisiana State University (1998–2007)—where she advanced from Assistant Professor to tenured Associate Professor—and Northeastern University (2007–2017), where she served as tenured Associate Professor and later Professor before joining Clarkson University. Through projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—including an NSF CAREER Award—she has mentored more than 60 student researchers, including 20 PhD students, six MS students, and over 40 undergraduate researchers.
Prof. Podlaha-Murphy has authored or coauthored more than 90 peer-reviewed journal articles and proceedings papers, a book chapter, four patents, and 130 scientific conference presentations. An active ECS member since joining in 1987, she served as Chair of the Electrodeposition Division (2015–2017) and previously held the positions of Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Member-at-Large. Prof. Podlaha-Murphy has also served on numerous ECS committees, organized and chaired technical symposia, and in 2019 helped establish and coadvise the Clarkson University ECS Student Chapter. A Fellow of The Electrochemical Society, she received the 1991 ECS Battery Division Student Research Award and NASF Foundation’s 2026 William Blum Scientific Achievement Award.