As an experimental physicist, diversity advocate, and science communicator, Nadya Mason is mentioned on many a formidable list — TED Talk presenters, Kavli Fellowship recipients, and National Academy of Sciences members, to name a few.

This month, the director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology joined the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition’s list of Researchers to Know in 2022. Now in its fifth year, the ISTC honors scientists “driving innovation in the state — from those advancing new treatments in medicine, to those revolutionizing sustainability practices and shaping new technologies in the 21st century,” as stated on its website.

Mason, the Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Professor in Physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was recognized for her achievements in understanding complex materials and processes.