Joseph MacLennan

Joseph MacLennan is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He serves as a Faculty Mentor for students with last names K-L. His research focuses on liquid crystal physics, particularly the structure and electro-optic properties of materials like bent-core smectics and ferroelectric colloids. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado (1988) and a B.Sc.(Hons.) from Rhodes University, South Africa (1980). He held a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Mainz, Germany (1988–1993), before returning to Boulder to join the Liquid Crystal Physics group.

His research interests include phase transitions in liquid crystal films, topological defects, and 2D hydrodynamics. Notable contributions include studies on ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals and microgravity experiments on liquid crystal films. His work bridges fundamental physics with applications in electro-optics and nanotechnology.

He collaborates extensively with researchers like N. A. Clark, M. A. Glaser, and C. Tschierske. His lab investigates freely-suspended liquid crystal films, molecular self-assembly, and active microrheology. Over 30 years, his group has published seminal studies on liquid crystal phases, chiral symmetry, and nanoconfinement effects.