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MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Jason Sparapani | February 13, 2025

James LeBeau promoted to full professor

An electron microscopist, educator, and supporter of shared facilities, LeBeau examines materials at ultra-tiny scales to understand their properties.
Categories: Faculty, Department News
James LeBeau, of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has been promoted to full professor, effective July 1. He develops advanced techniques to reveal how atomic structure and chemistry shape material properties.
Gretchen Ertl

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) has promoted Associate Professor James LeBeau to full professor, effective July 1.

LeBeau is an expert in electron microscopy, which uses electron beams to image atomic arrangements in materials. He develops advanced techniques to better understand how the atomic structure and chemistry of materials influence their properties. His data collection and interpretation techniques have been used to describe materials used in electronics, energy storage, optics, and quantum computing.

“Professor LeBeau has tirelessly pushed the limits of this essential materials characterization technique to greater resolution, volume, and structure-property insight,” said Professor Polina Anikeeva, head of DMSE.

LeBeau earned his bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2006 and his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2010. He began his faculty career at North Carolina State University in 2011 and came to MIT as an associate professor in 2019.

After earning tenure in 2022, LeBeau participated in the newly launched Tenure Talk series, discussing his career and research. In his November 2022 presentation, he described how his primary research tool, the scanning transmission electron (STEM) microscope, “opens up the atomic scale of materials,” allowing detailed analysis of their structure and potential applications.

A highlight of LeBeau’s research career is his use of STEM to study relaxor ferroelectrics, a class of materials prized for their electrical properties in actuators and ultrasounds, yet long considered puzzling because of their unpredictable behavior. He has also integrated machine learning and computational models to improve the efficiency of electron microscopy and worked towards an AI-driven microscope, which could collect data much faster than human scientists.

Beyond research, LeBeau has played a key role in expanding MIT’s cutting-edge microscopy capabilities and ensuring Institute-wide access. In DMSE, he served as the chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and has taught core undergraduate classes.