Yanfa Yan has been an Ohio Research Scholar Chair and Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Toledo, since 2011. Previously, he was a Principal Scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Wuhan University in 1993. His expertise includes thin-film solar cell fabrication, defect physics of semiconductors, and nanoscale characterization of microstructures, interfaces, and defects in thin-film photovoltaic materials. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.