Gregory Crawford says he owes his career success to two words: “What if?” Framing basic research questions in this manner has helped him find ways to turn ideas into tangible solutions and products. As the new dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Crawford plans to use this strategy to emphasize the value of interdisciplinary projects with real-world applications. See CV

On receiving his undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics from Kent State University in Ohio, Crawford had been set to study nuclear physics. But rather than spend time putting a project in place, he took advantage of an offer to begin graduate research immediately at Kent State's famed Liquid Crystal Institute. This put him at the forefront of a revolution in liquid-crystal displays.

Crawford's PhD adviser, Bill Doane, then the director of the Liquid Crystal Institute, credits Crawford's ambition and drive. As a PhD student, Doane says, Crawford helped solve some basic problems in liquid-crystal physics — for example, the measurement of a fundamental constant that relates to certain properties of liquid-crystal displays, such as how fast the material becomes aligned in a particular direction.

After a sabbatical at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California, Crawford's drive took on entrepreneurial zeal. “It pushed my creativity,” says Crawford, adding that, in today's competitive research climate, working in a high-tech industry before joining academia offers valuable perspective.

In his next position as professor of physics and engineering at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Crawford taught a class on entrepreneurship. While searching for research ideas for that class, he made contacts at the medical school. This resulted in a collaboration that yielded an optical device that uses liquid-crystal technology to measure haemoglobin concentrations in the blood non-invasively. Crawford calls it one of his greatest career accomplishments so far, on account of its promising applications. He has subsequently co-founded two biomedical companies — Corum Medical and Myomics.

“In many ways, my push into the life sciences and biomedical technology elevated me as a researcher and broadened my scope,” says Crawford. That background, he says, was pivotal in his recruitment to Notre Dame. There, he plans to continue to “think big”. He will start by applying his 'what if' questions to complex problems such as those of global health and infectious-disease research, which he says Notre Dame is well positioned to tackle.