Jeffrey "Jeff" Rhoads

Jeffrey (Jeff) F. Rhoads serves as the John and Catherine Martin Family Vice President for Research at the University of Notre Dame. In this role, he oversees Notre Dame’s research and innovation ecosystem, supporting programs in all areas of research, scholarship, and creative endeavor. He also holds the position of professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering.

Prior to joining Notre Dame in July 2023, Rhoads served as the executive director of the Purdue Institute for National Security and as a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. He previously served as the director of the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, associate director of the Purdue Energetics Research Center, and director of practice for the Mechanical Engineering Education Research Center at Purdue.

Rhoads is a leading mechanical engineering researcher and educator, whose interests include dynamics and vibration, energetic materials, additive manufacturing and micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems. Rhoads has attracted more than $100 million in sponsored research funding across his various academic roles — garnering extensive support from the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Science Foundation (NSF), regional foundations, and industry.

Rhoads co-founded two small businesses that provided engineering and technical solutions for industry and the defense, energy, and national security sectors. This, coupled with his research experience, strongly informs his passion for regional economic development.

Recognized extensively for excellence in his discipline and teaching, Rhoads is the recipient of the inaugural American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ C. D. Mote Jr. Early Career Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the American Society for Engineering Education’s Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award, as well as the Charles B. Murphy Award, Purdue’s highest annual undergraduate teaching honor. In 2023, he was inducted into the Purdue Book of Great Teachers, Purdue’s lifetime award for excellence in teaching and scholarship. He holds a number of patents and is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, including a widely used undergraduate textbook.

Rhoads is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a past member of the American Society for Engineering Education and the National Defense Industrial Association, and has held a number of service and leadership roles in these organizations. In addition, Rhoads often contributes his time to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) pipeline and outreach programs and to inspiring the next generation of well-rounded college students. Rhoads earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a doctoral degree, each in mechanical engineering, from Michigan State University.

A native of Charlotte, Michigan, Rhoads and his wife, Janine, live in Niles, Michigan, and are the parents of twin boys, Jonathan and Joseph.