Riccardo Betti is the Robert L. McCrory Professor, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester. He is also the Chief Scientist of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester. His research involves high-temperature plasma physics with applications to nuclear fusion. He served as Chair of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society, Vice Chair of the Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of Energy, Chair of the Plasma Science Committee of the National Research Council, and Member of the Board of Physics and Astronomy of the U.S. National Academy of Science. He received the Edward Teller Medal from the American Nuclear Society, the Leadership Award from Fusion Power Associates, the E.O. Lawrence Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences of the University of Rochester. He has supervised 27 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and co-authored over 240 peer-reviewed papers. He received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992.
