As fourth chancellor of UMass Lowell, Julie Chen has led the university to new heights in research and sustainability while redoubling efforts to build partnerships with government and industry, including through development of the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor (LINC). Chen became chancellor of the university with nearly 17,000 students on July 1, 2022. She was first Asian American, second woman and first LGBTQ+ person to lead the university.
Among Chen’s earliest endeavors was establishing a guarantee to each incoming first-year student the opportunity for at least one career-connected experience — for pay or credit — by the time of their graduation.
Additionally, Chen led development of a new five-year strategic plan focused on four priorities: 1.) Enrollment and Student Success; 2.) A Diverse, Welcoming and Inclusive Campus; 3.) Research Excellence; and 4.) Partnering with Our Community for Mutual Benefit. During her tenure, the university has experienced increases in enrollment, retention, six-year graduation rates and philanthropy.
Less than three years into her tenure, UMass Lowell attained a long-held ambition of being classified as a Research 1 university, placing it among the top 7% of all colleges and universities in the U.S. as measured by research activity. During her administration, UMass Lowell’s research franchise surpassed $120 million in annual research and development spending.
At the same time, UMass Lowell has continued to grow as a leader in sustainability, earning a platinum rating from the Association or the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s STARS program. The university is the only platinum campus in Massachusetts, one of eight in the United States and one of 15 worldwide.
Working in close partnership with the City of Lowell, Chen has also advanced the vision for LINC — a 1.2 million square foot, mixed-use development that will result in a vibrant district of offices, laboratory space, housing, retail space and entertainment choices in downtown Lowell. Focused on the colocation of such notable partners as Draper Laboratory and SAIC, the LINC district is projected to generate $3.7 billion over a decade, according to the Donohue Institute.
The university has also fortified partnerships within government and military. In February 2025, the UMass Lowell Applied Research Corp. announced a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with Hanscom Air Force Base to enable technology transfer, support job creation and benefit the defense industrial base and state economy. The agreement was the 16th of its kind in the Air Force and the first of its kind in New England.
Before her appointment as chancellor, Chen served as vice chancellor for research and economic development for UMass Lowell, a role that included managing industry partnerships, technology transfer, startups and innovation, core research facilities and economic development programs.
As chief research officer, she facilitated numerous innovative models that brought together industry, government and academia. For example, the Fabric Discovery Center — the nation’s first center to integrate three Manufacturing USA Institutes — brings together expertise in smart textiles, flexible electronics and robotics with the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center as well as the university’s Innovation Hub and medical device, biotech and technology incubators.
The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy assembles experts in science, engineering, economics, policy, business, education and operations to address complex challenges in sustainability and climate change.
Other notable initiatives involving external partners include the Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute as well as the unique partnership known as HEROES, which draws upon complementary expertise and intellectual assets from UMass Lowell and U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center to enhance the protection of U.S. soldiers.
Chen joined the UMass Lowell faculty in 1997 after six years as an assistant professor at Boston University. She spent 2002-04 in Washington, D.C., as director for the Materials Processing and Manufacturing as well as Nanomanufacturing programs at the National Science Foundation.
Chen was appointed UMass Lowell’s vice provost for research in 2009, and she was promoted to vice chancellor in 2016 with an added external and outreach focus. As a member of UMass Lowell’s Executive Cabinet, she helped lead the implementation of the university’s 2020 Strategic Plan, resulting in an expansion and modernization of physical infrastructure; the recruitment of outstanding faculty and students; increases in retention and graduation rates; advances in diversity, equity and inclusion; and historic growth of revenues from research, online programs and the endowment.
Chen was the 2010 Technical Program Chair for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, and she served in several leadership roles on the Congress Steering Committee, Nominating Committee and in her technical division. She has served on many editorial boards, advisory committees, and review panels for journals and federal agencies including the National Science Foundation; the National Institutes of Health; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine; the U.S. Department of Energy; and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Based on her expertise in materials, nanomanufacturing and advanced manufacturing, she has testified before Congress and represented the United States in several international workshops.
Chen has served as co-lead for UMass Lowell’s Council on Social Justice and Inclusion. Additionally she was a co-principal investigator on a $3.5 million National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant to support and elevate women faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
Chen serves on boards of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and MassTech Collaborative, as well as the Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and the Massachusetts Military Asset and Security Strategy Task Force. As chancellor, she served on the governor’s Economic Development Planning Council and contributed to creation in December 2023 of the state’s economic development plan, “Team Massachusetts: Leading Future Generations.”
Chen received her Ph.D., Master of Science, and Bachelor of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in mechanical engineering, where she was a student athlete and Academic All-American in softball and field hockey. In 2019 she was awarded an honorary degree from Queens University Belfast. She is a recipient of the U.S. Army Public Service Commendation Medal – the Army’s fourth-highest civilian honor – in recognition of her leadership in developing the innovation ecosystem.
In June 2023, Chen and her spouse, Susu Wong, led creation of a new fund within the Greater Lowell Community Foundation to support nonprofit organizations serving the LGBTQ+ community, which they have continued to support.
In 2025, Chen and Wong were each recognized for their respective leadership and successful careers as part of the Boston LGBTQ+ Museum’s Portraits of Pride exhibition.