Haotian Wang

Haotian Wang is an award-winning chemist specializing in electrochemistry and sustainable energy technologies who left his position as full professor at Rice University's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering just two months after his promotion took effect, joining Tongji University in Shanghai as a tenured Distinguished Professor in its School of Chemical Science and Engineering and Center for Frontier Interdisciplinary Research in Fundamental Sciences in September 2026.

Wang earned his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2011 and his PhD in applied physics from Stanford University in 2016, followed by a Rowland Fellowship at Harvard University. He joined Rice as an assistant professor in 2019, was promoted to associate professor in 2023, and became a full professor effective July 2026. His research centers on using electricity and catalysts to convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals and fuels, alongside work on battery recycling, lithium extraction, carbon capture, and wastewater treatment. His honors include the American Chemical Society's 2026 Marks-Ipatieff Award in Catalysis, Rice's Provost's Award for Outstanding Early Career Faculty Achievement (2026), a Sloan Research Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and a spot on Forbes' "30 Under 30" list in 2019; his published work has drawn more than 50,000 citations.