Eric Garfunkel is the vice president for global affairs at Rutgers and the head of Rutgers Global. He is responsible for the university’s internationalization efforts, including study abroad and global education, cross-cultural and global programming, development and support of international relations and partnerships, and services for visiting students and scholars.

Garfunkel is a global scholar who has held visiting professorships across the world, including Germany, China, Italy, and France. He is currently deeply involved in developing global partnerships and research collaborations with African universities, and he has helped lead the international activities of the Materials Research Society for over a decade.

During his 30 years at Rutgers, Garfunkel played a leading role in the formation of the multidisciplinary Laboratory for Surface Modification and later the Institute for Advanced Materials, Devices, and Nanotechnology. He also served as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and is currently a distinguished professor of chemistry and physics. His recent research has focused on the synthesis and characterization of materials that can be used for alternative energy (solar and battery) and nanoelectronics.