Xuedong Hu, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, has been named interim director of the UB Quantum Institute.

Hu joined the Department of Physics in 2002 to become the first UB faculty member with scholarly focus on quantum computing. He co-leads the Quantum Institute’s materials and devices focus area, which explores development of quantum materials, nanostructures and device architectures enabling next-generation quantum technologies.

“In this role, I intend to help UB advance quantum expertise and recruit existing and new faculty to join us and contribute,” says Hu. “Quantum is a well-supported field with strong funding at the state and federal level at present and for the foreseeable future. But it’s also a challenging and niche field that has only begun to attract a lot of interest over the past 10 years. We have a depth of expertise here at UB that continues to grow in size and notability.  We need to take advantage of our opportunities in the quantum realm.”

Hu succeeds Sambandamurthy Ganapathy, professor of physics and associate dean for research in the College of Arts and Sciences, who has served as interim director of the institute since it launched in November 2025.

The UB Quantum Institute is a multi-disciplinary cohort of researchers in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering and computer science collaborating to advance quantum research, innovation and education at UB.