Quantum computing knowledgeable Michael Manfra has been named Purdue University’s first chief quantum officer. (Purdue University picture)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University introduced Tuesday (March 3) that quantum computing knowledgeable Michael Manfra has been appointed chief quantum officer, efficient Jan. 1, 2026. He is presently director of the Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute (PQSEI).
In this newly established joint function, Manfra — the Bill and Dee O’Brien Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, professor within the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and professor of supplies engineering — will strategically information Purdue’s quantum portfolio together with its engagement with business and authorities companions, academic actions, and function particular advisor to school President Mung Chiang and Provost Patrick Wolfe to combine quantum analysis into the broader Purdue Computes initiative.
“Mike is the right person, and now is the right time, for this appointment, given the potential of quantum technologies to transform our future,” Wolfe stated. “A team player for Purdue and someone whose research career has consistently generated important firsts, Mike’s strategic understanding of the broad and promising landscape in quantum science and engineering will position us well to advance and integrate our growing quantum research portfolio.”
The want for extremely expert expertise in quantum science and expertise is predicted to develop dramatically within the subsequent decade. As chief quantum officer, Manfra’s wide-ranging duties embody overseeing Purdue’s newly launched quantum levels program. Purdue is making ready the nation’s next-generation quantum workforce by providing an array of academic alternatives in quantum computing, communications and sensing that mix idea with sensible utility.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the Purdue teams that are advancing understanding and practical applications of quantum science,” Manfra stated. “We will also forge new partnerships with industry and government agencies to accelerate the translation of quantum science to useful technologies.”
Manfra is acknowledged globally as a groundbreaking researcher in quantum science and its functions to expertise. He led a crew of Purdue scientists who demonstrated concrete proof of the existence of anyons, a particle that’s notably essential in efforts to construct a fault-tolerant utility-scale quantum laptop.
He additionally has a eager understanding of the connection between analysis performed in business and academia, having spent a decade as a analysis scientist at Bell Laboratories earlier than becoming a member of the Purdue school in 2009. In 2016 Manfra turned the scientific director of Microsoft Quantum, West Lafayette, a part of Microsoft’s international effort to construct a utility-scale quantum laptop earlier than taking the PQSEI helm in 2025.
Manfra was also awarded the American Physical Society’s 2026 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize, which acknowledges excellent theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics for the experimental statement of anyons in two-dimensional electron methods.
Quantum science and engineering at Purdue is a pillar of the Purdue Computes initiative, which is concentrated on advancing analysis in computing, bodily AI, semiconductors and quantum applied sciences.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public analysis college main with excellence at scale. Ranked amongst prime 10 public universities within the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys information with a top quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 college students examine at Purdue throughout a number of campuses, places and modalities, together with greater than 57,000 at our primary campus places in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s primary campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue by no means stops within the persistent pursuit of the following big leap — together with its built-in, complete Indianapolis city growth; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.