Christopher Lawson, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Executive Director, Alabama EPSCoR
Director, Alabama Graduate Research Scholars Program

Dr. Christopher Lawson is a full Professor of Physics. He teaches College Physics I and II and Geometric Optics, Physical Optics, Optical System Design, and Nonlinear Optics. His research interests are in nonlinear optics and optical sensors. His research specialty is optical sensing and nonlinear optics and he has published over 70 journal articles and 10 books or book chapters in these areas. At UAB, Dr. Lawson has been Principal Investigator (PI) for numerous research grants awarded from the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, Army Research Labs, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA, and the State of Alabama.

Dr. Lawson has served as Executive Director of the Alabama Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ALEPSCoR) since 2010. ALEPSCoR (www.alepscor.org) is dedicated to the advancement of economic development via scientific and engineering research through a collaborative effort among the State’s eight Ph.D. granting institutions, the Alabama Department of Commerce, the Alabama Commission for Higher Education (ACHE) and the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA). Overall, ALEPSCoR has brought in 268 federal EPSCoR grants for $165M from 2010-2020, with $17.1M of new research grants and an estimated $16M of research expenditures in FY 2020 alone. Dr. Lawson also serves as the Director of the State funded Graduate Research Scholars Program (GRSP), designed to increase the pool of highly trained graduates available to Alabama industry. As of December 2020, GRSP support has resulted in 221 Ph.D. and 73 Master’s degrees in high technology EPSCoR research areas. Finally, from 2016-2021 Dr. Lawson served as the Chair of the Coalition of EPSCoR/IDEA States, which assumes a leadership role in coordinating national EPSCoR activities. He testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on behalf of the EPSCoR Coalition in 2012 and 2013 and provided written expert witness testimony to the “Driving Innovation Through Federal Investments” full U.S. Senate Hearings in April 2014 and the House Appropriations Committee in 2019.

Dr. Lawson received his B.S. and Ph.D. In Physics at Oklahoma State University, and his M.S. Degree in Physics at the University of Colorado. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Lawson worked at Gould Research Laboratories in Rolling Meadows, IL, as a Staff Scientist in the area of fiber optics and fiber optic sensing. This was followed by several years of performing Department of Defense related research in nonlinear optics, fiber optics, optical sensors, and optical system design and prototyping at BDM Corporation in McLean Virginia as a Scientist, Manager, and then Director/Principle Scientist of Optical Sciences.

Foundation Board
Term Expires: December 31, 2026