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Chris joined the faculty at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder this past summer after 25 years on the faculty at the University of Utah. As a student and during his initial years in academic research, his work focused on developing design methods and software tools for asynchronous digital electronic circuits. These circuits operate at their natural speed rather than having their cadence governed by a global clock. Since 2002, Chris has been applying his asynchronous design methodology to the exciting new field of synthetic biology to construct genetic circuits using DNA and other biological components. Synthetic biology has a number of exciting potential applications in medicine, energy, manufacturing, and the environment.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I have an undergraduate degree in Chinese history from Caltech.

One thing you’re willing to spend way too much on . . .

While I don't get to do it as often as before, I like to write and debug software whenever possible.

Your coworkers can always count on you to . . .

To be on-time (or usually early) to appointments, though it is getting more challenging with my current schedule.

Who would you most like to meet and why?

Sadly, I just missed the opportunity to meet Professor Richard Feynman, since he passed away early during my freshman year. He was famous not only for his Nobel Prize in physics but also his books about his exciting life experiences. His quote "what I cannot create I don't understand" is an inspiration for my research work.

Who was the most famous person you met and where?

When the Olympics came to Salt Lake City in 2002, I met the King of Sweden during a reception. That meeting was likely the closest thing I will have to a Nobel moment.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

After one of my first faculty meetings at Utah where some vote did not go the way I hoped, a colleague advised me of the importance in trusting the will of the faculty. This is a philosophy that has served me well over the years.