As vice dean for innovation, Craig B. Arnold leads the Princeton Innovation initiative and oversees the University’s efforts to grow Princeton’s culture of innovation across disciplines. The role aims to strengthen the University’s capacity to engage with entrepreneurs, alumni, industry, technology investors and other potential partners. The vice dean for innovation works closely with offices across campus and within the Office of the Dean for Research, including the Office of Technology Licensing, Corporate Engagement and Foundation Relations, and the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council.

Arnold is Princeton's Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He has served since 2015 as the director of the Princeton Institute of Materials. He leads a vibrant research program that ranges from basic science to applied technology aimed at developing a deeper understanding of materials synthesis and processing in areas including advanced manufacturing, energy storage and conversion, and optics and photonics.

In 2017, Arnold received an Edison Patent Award from the Research & Development Council of New Jersey for the creation of an adjustable lens that focuses light in response to sound waves. The tunable acoustic gradient (TAG) lens is now used in many industrial and research applications including robotics, machine vision, industrial metrology and ultra-high precision microscopy.

Arnold holds 13 granted patents, and is the co-founder of two companies based on research conducted at Princeton. TAG Optics Inc. developed the TAG lens and was later acquired by a major precision instrument manufacturer. Invictis Technologies is working to create a safer and less painful automated intravenous injection device. Recognized widely for his mentorship and teaching, Arnold has advised many undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. He has received the Princeton Undergraduate Engineering Council Teaching Award (2009, 2017 and 2022) and the School of Engineering and Applied Science Excellence in Teaching Award (2019 and 2021). Arnold is a member of the executive committee for Princeton’s Entrepreneurship Certificate Program and the executive committee of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
Arnold holds a Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from Harvard University and a B.S. from Haverford College. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Naval Research Laboratory prior to joining the Princeton faculty in 2003.