Eric Isaacs

Eric Isaacs is an American physicist who was the 11th President of the Carnegie Institution for Science where he oversaw the research and business functions across six research departments on the East and West coasts and observatories in Chile until stepping down in October 2024.

[1] [2] In February 2025, he was announced as the next president and CEO of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement following a national search process.

[3] Isaacs spent many years at the University of Chicago from which he departed in July 2018 as the Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor[4] in physics and the James Franck Institute Executive Vice President for Research, Innovation and National Laboratories.

[6] Prior to that he was director of Argonne National Laboratory for five years, where he had been since 2003, with a joint appointment in the university’s physics department.

[citation needed] Isaacs’ research interests are in condensed matter physics and quantum materials.