Liesl Folks

Liesl Folks is a professor of electrical and computer engineering (all her science degrees are in Physics) at the University of Arizona since 2019. She served as the provost for the University of Arizona from 2019 to 2023. Since 2023, she also serves as the Vice President for Semiconductor Strategy at the University of Arizona.

Early life and education
Folks, a native of Australia, holds a BSc (Hons) and a PhD, both in physics, from the University of Western Australia, as well as an MBA from Cornell. She earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in physics. Her Ph.D thesis research was related to characterization of ferromagnetic materials by atomic force microscopy (AFM). After graduating Folks joined the Faculty of the University of Western Australia as a postdoctoral research fellow, and conducted research on AFM characterization of nanoscale permanent magnetic materials.

Research and career
After serving as a researcher from 1998 to 2013 at IBM and Hitachi, in 2013 after receiving an MBA from Cornell University, Folks was appointed Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo. That year she was also appointed in the voluntary role of President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Magnetics Society, a professional society. At the University at Buffalo, she was committed to building educational programs that align with students’ and society’s needs. She served as Dean of Engineering when two new departments were launched at the University of Buffalo; materials design (a joint initiative at UB between to the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences) and engineering education.

In 2019, she joined the University of Arizona as a professor of electrical and computer engineering, where she was also appointed senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. She resigned as provost in 2023, following the death of a professor on campus.

Folks has conducted research involving characterization of magnetic materials using atomic force microscopy techniques including magnetic force microscopy. She is a co-inventor on 12 U.S. patents and is a co-author on approximately 60 peer-reviewed articles that have attracted more than 13,300 citations.

Folks is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. In 2024, Folks received a Distinguished Service Award from the IEEE Magnetics Society.