The key for Mauricio Terrones, the head of the Penn State physics department who stepped into the role in July 2023, is to never give up. His title is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work navigating his way through the world of science.

Terrones was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. He attended Universidad Iberoamericana, where he earned his degree in engineering physics. After declining a full-ride scholarship to Rice University for his Ph.D., Terrones crossed the Atlantic Ocean to study with Sir Harold W. Kroto at the University of Sussex in southern England.

“People were saying that he was going to get the Nobel Prize,” Terrones said. “I did go to the U.K. not knowing if he was going to get it or not. Eventually, he got it.”

Terrones’ career further progressed as he received a Humboldt Fellowship and conducted research at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany. Having moved and worked throughout Europe, Terrones felt it was time to go home to Mexico and see what opportunities lay there.

“I moved to Mexico to start a new institute in San Luis Potosí. The idea was to launch a new advanced materials department and try to be more competitive for the students in Mexico,” he said.

Terrones worked at his institute for nine years, giving back to the community that raised him and trying to create opportunities for the new generation of Mexican students.

After taking a short sabbatical, Terrones suited up as a professor at Penn State. He has been at Penn State for 13 years and has worked his way up to the head of the department. Still, Terrones remembered his roots.

“Not giving up is one of the things that I learned from there. Even if the conditions are not the best, you try to find a way to do things, right?” he said. “From starting a new lab from scratch to ordering chemicals that wouldn’t arrive for eight months, never giving up has helped me in the way I tackle things.”

Terrones has used his expertise to make vast discoveries in nanoscience and materials research. He was in the first group of scientists to see grown nanotubes aligned on a substrate, marking that as one of his most fueling experiences.

“Research is like that. You’re trying to replicate these moments of eureka, and you become addicted to looking for them,” he explained.

Terrones wants to inspire the next generation of Hispanic students at Penn State, too.

“Even if you are at a disadvantage, don’t give up. Maybe sometimes we don’t have the luxury to go to or learn in the best schools, but we need to be competitive,” he said. “Try to get to know different things and then you will start knowing what you like and what you don’t. It’s a matter of hard work and solving problems.”