Rate My Professor Stephen Kuebler

Stephen Kuebler is a Professor of Chemistry and Optics at the University of Central Florida (UCF), holding joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry within the College of Sciences and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, along with a secondary appointment in Materials Science and Engineering. He serves as Founding Associate Director of the UCF Center for Ethics since 2019 and Faculty Fellow for Student Success in Chemistry from 2023 to 2024. Kuebler earned his D.Phil. in Chemistry from the University of Oxford in 1998 and B.S. summa cum laude in Chemistry with a minor in Physics, as well as B.A. cum laude in German, from Tulane University in 1991. His career includes positions as Assistant Professor at UCF starting in 2003, promotion to Associate Professor with tenure in 2009, and full Professor in 2019. Previously, he was Assistant Staff Scientist and Research Associate at the University of Arizona Department of Chemistry from 1999 to 2003, and Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the California Institute of Technology Department of Chemistry in 1998-1999.

Kuebler's research specializations encompass materials and processes for 3D nano- and microfabrication, nanophotonic structures and devices, nonlinear optical materials, and photochemistry. Leading the Nanophotonic Materials Group, his team develops chemistry, materials science, and optical methods, including laser-based 3D printing, for functional micro-scale devices using photopolymers, nanoparticles, inorganics, and electroless metallization, with applications in photonics, imaging, sensing, and solar energy. He has garnered major awards such as the NSF CAREER Award in 2008, four UCF College of Sciences Teaching Incentive Program Awards (2009, 2014, 2019, 2025), Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Awards (2008, 2015), Outstanding Four Year College Teacher Award from the Orlando Section of the American Chemical Society in 2005, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 1993, Marshall Scholarship in 1991, and Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in 1989. His publications include over 100 peer-reviewed articles, with more than 6,000 citations and an h-index of 28 per Google Scholar, featuring works like "Rapid Deposition and Controlled Clustering of Gold Nanoparticles on Surfaces and Micro-Patterned Substrates" (ACS Omega, 2025), "Bio-inspired photonic and plasmonic systems for gas sensing" (Journal of Optical Microsystems, 2024), and numerous contributions to Optics Letters, Langmuir, and Photonics Research. Kuebler has secured multimillion-dollar grants from the NSF and Air Force Research Laboratory, serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Optical Microsystems, and contributes to university committees on undergraduate research, ethics, academic integrity, and laser safety.