Susan Lozier, distinguished professor of Ocean Sciences at Duke University, has accepted the role of dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair in the College of Sciences.

Desert snakes slithering across the sand at night can encounter obstacles such as plants or twigs that alter the direction of their travel -- and cause them to mimic aspects of light or subatomic particles when they encounter a diffraction grating.

Even before Hang Lu found her career focus, she knew she wanted to do something different.