Dr. Darwish is a professor of physics, was recently named Dillard University’s first Presidential Professor. Darwish obtained his BS in Nuclear Engineering from University of Alexandria, MS in Solid State Physics and PhD in optics and laser physics from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Then, he worked as associate professor at Al A&M University in 1993 where he supervised 7 graduate students (5 MS and 2PhD). He has been a Dillard University faculty member for sixteen years since 1998 and has served the university in numerous administrative roles, including chair of the physics department, chair of the School of STEM, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. Darwish is an expert in thin film fabrication using the Pulse Laser Deposition technique and ion implantation. He has authored over 80 publications in the areas of nonlinear optical materials, magnetic resonance, waveguides, thin film fabrication and optical sensors. Over the course of his tenure at Dillard, Darwish has been able to secure over $16.8 million in grant funds as a PI or CoPI to establish many programs and research enterprises in physics and the School of STEM such as the summer bridge program, LS-LAMP, GAELA, TESSE, GAMP, AGAP, NASA- LA SPACE consortium, NASA-NORC for STEM retention, DOE INSIGHT center and PLD program of materials. These projects were funded by research grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific research, Army, NASA, NSF, NASA EPSCoR. Dr. Darwish filed for three patents on his new inventions of double laser ablation, and he is in the process of filing fourth patent which changes the way the pulse laser deposition of materials is done around the world. In addition, Dr. Abdalla Darwish holds a public position where he has been serving as member of city of Kenner civil service board since it was inception in 2007 until present. He took the Oath of the office in January 2007. During his