Richard McCullough, Ph.D.

President
Professor of Chemistry
Florida State University

16 U.S. Patents

Richard McCullough, Ph.D. is the 16th President of Florida State University (FSU), one of the nation’s top public research universities. With more than three decades of experience in scientific innovation, institutional leadership, and entrepreneurial ecosystem development, Dr. McCullough has guided transformative initiatives during his presidency designed to elevate FSU’s impact across Florida and beyond.

A renowned chemist, Dr. McCullough was the first to discover and develop regioregular polythiophenes, a revolutionary class of conjugated polymers that dramatically improved conductivity, charge mobility, and solubility in organic materials. This landmark method for synthesizing poly(3-hexylthiophene) laid the foundation for the field of plastic electronics and significantly advanced low-cost, flexible technologies such as solar cells, field-effect transistors, and next-generation displays.

Dr. McCullough’s pioneering research on regioregular polythiophenes also led to breakthroughs in printable electronic materials, reactive metal inks, and organic semiconductors. These discoveries advanced the field of flexible and wearable devices and contributed to the development of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays with thinner, more efficient, and longer-lasting organic layers. As a result of Dr. McCullough’s innovations, regioregular polythiophenes have become one of the most studied and cited materials in the field over the past two decades, contributing to further breakthroughs in flexible and low-cost electronics.

Beyond his scientific contributions, Dr. McCullough is also an experienced entrepreneur. He founded two startup companies, Plextronics, Inc., and Liquid X Printed Metals, both of which commercialized his discoveries to address real-world challenges across the technology, energy, and healthcare sectors. Plextronics was later acquired by Solvay, a global chemical company.

Dr. McCullough’s innovations extend into academia, where he has played a transformational role in building innovation ecosystems at leading research institutions. At Carnegie Mellon University, he launched the Greenlighting Start-ups Initiative, a comprehensive program that dramatically increased university spinouts and technology transfer activity. At Harvard University, he helped spearhead Landmark Bio, a $100 million multi-institutional initiative designed to catalyze biomedical research and biomanufacturing at scale. At FSU, Dr. McCullough spearheaded the creation of FSU Health, a sweeping initiative to transform healthcare delivery, education, and biomedical research in North Florida. His leadership helped secure $98.4 million in Triumph Gulf Coast funding for new aerospace and advanced manufacturing facilities in Panama City, generating significant economic impact for the region.

Dr. McCullough holds 16 U.S. patents. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2021, he was inducted into the Advanced Materials Hall of Fame. He is also the recipient of the Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence as a Start-Up Entrepreneur.

Dr. McCullough received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Dallas. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.