Craig Fennie, MacArthur Fellow and materials discovery pioneer, dies at 54

Craig J. Fennie, associate professor in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics at the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering whose groundbreaking research opened pathways for scientists to discover and design materials, died of a heart attack on June 14. He was 54.

Fennie received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013, and because the awards are commonly referred to as "genius" grants, that term was often applied to him, though it was not one he embraced.

"I have always hated the word," Fennie said in an interview shortly after receiving the accolade. Instead, he emphasized how lucky he felt to be engaged in his work.

"Craig's path was unique. In many ways, he modeled our 'any person …' founding creed at Cornell," said Lynden Archer, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering. "He was not just known for his creative mind, but for his kindness and humanity - a brilliant, yet grounded member of our campus community. We will miss him tremendously."

A materials physicist, Fennie pioneered unique methods for materials discovery. He developed approaches that began with a desired property - such as a particular magnetic, electrical or optical behavior - and then worked backward, using quantum mechanical calculations and theoretical models to identify materials capable of exhibiting those properties.

Darrell Schlom, one of Fennie's frequent collaborators and the Tisch University Professor in Cornell's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, said Fennie went out of his way to talk to experimentalists in terms they could understand.

"His approach was quite different from a theorist explaining why something exhibits a known behavior, which Craig referred to as 'post-dictions,'" Schlom said. "He changed my life, because his bold 'pre-dictions' were almost always right. I say 'almost,' because there were some materials that we couldn't make, but that is a failure on the synthesis side, not of Craig's predictions."

Like his scientific methods, Fennie's journey to academia was unconventional. He often recounted it as a way of encouraging others to remain open to possibilities in their lives and careers.

"Some of my fondest memories are of his graduation speeches," said Lois Pollack, associate dean of research and graduate studies in Duffield Engineering. "He delighted in reassuring parents that not every student finds their passion immediately, and gently encouraged patience as they made their way."

Raised in working-class neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Fennie earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Villanova University. He spent the next several years working as a bouncer at a nightclub and later at a small engineering company. Along the way, he also played guitar in a band.

In his late 20s, he returned to graduate school and began studying physics. Others took notice of the originality and creativity that would become hallmarks of his scientific career. He emerged from Rutgers University with the Richard H. Plano Prize, given annually to the individual who, in the judgment of the university's physics graduate faculty, wrote the best Ph.D. dissertation.

Fennie joined Cornell in 2008, after serving as the Nicholas Metropolis Fellow at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. He leaned into Cornell's collaborative culture to do his work, which depended on close partnerships with experimentalists who synthesized and characterized the materials his calculations predicted.

Fennie received the Army Research Office Young Investigator Award in 2010, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2011, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2012. He was later elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Usually dressed in a T-shirt, with his lifelong love of punk rock worn - often literally - on his sleeve, Fennie cut a unique figure in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics. At the time of his death, he was serving as the school's director of undergraduate studies, a role he had served in since 2022.

"Craig's commitment to seeking deep insight from first principles truly embodied the spirit of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics. As a colleague and a person, he was genuinely kind and generous, always willing to lend a helping hand," said Chris Xu, the director of the school. "He stepped up at a time when the department needed support the most. I will miss him dearly, for his candor, his humor and - at times - his wonderfully childlike enthusiasm."

Fennie is survived by his partner, Nicole Benedek, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Cornell, and their son.

Chris Dawson is a communications coordinator for Duffield Engineering. Diane Tessaglia-Hymes contributed to this story.