Franklin Dollar is a Professor in Physics & Astronomy at UCI. He researches intense light-matter interactions and their applications in particle accelerators and advanced light sources and fusion energy. He has >85 publications and has served on the NAS of High Energy Density Science, the 2023 Basic Research Needs for Laser Technology, and the executive steering committee for the UC LEADs program. He is a Kavli Fellow, a Sloan Research Fellow, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He served as a member of the DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, and is a member of the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics Executive Committee and Committee on Minorities. He was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2025.