Walton is named vice chancellor for research and innovation following roles as associate dean and associate vice president. 

By: Jason Maderer (maderer@gatech.edu)
Blank Space (small)
(text and background only visible when logged in)

Georgia Tech chemical engineer Krista Walton has been named vice chancellor for research and innovation at North Carolina State. The role puts her in charge of NC State’s $517 million research enterprise. 

Walton has served as Georgia Tech’s associate vice president for research operations and infrastructure since 2023. The role oversees research space and core facilities. She also manages research computing and data, while contributing to policies related to research administration and operations.   

Walton is a professor and the Robert "Bud" Moeller Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, where she’s served on the faculty since 2009. 

“Georgia Tech has helped make me the scholar, researcher, and leader that I am today,” said Walton, who previously served as the College of Engineering’s associate dean for research and innovation. “As I prepare to take on this exciting new role at NC State, I will always be grateful for the mentorship and opportunities for growth that I received during my 16 wonderful years here.”

Walton’s research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of functional porous materials for use in adsorption applications, including carbon dioxide capture and atmospheric water harvesting. She has co-founded three spin-off companies from her research over the past decade and currently serves as an associate editor for AIChE Journal.

Krista Walton

Walton was the founding director and lead principal investigator (PI) on Georgia Tech’s first Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Frontier Research Center in 2014. That center, named UNCAGE-ME, advances the understanding of how porous and electrochemical materials used for hydrogen production and carbon dioxide capture and conversion evolve and degrade when exposed to emerging contaminants. DOE has renewed the center twice for a total of $25 million. 

Walton begins her new role at NC State on June 30.