Professor a Renaissance woman

POTSDAM — Liya L. Regel has a beautiful brain.

That's obvious each time you speak to her — her answers to questions are deep, sometimes scattered, far-ranging and always engaging. But if you need more proof, check out her long list of accomplishments.

First, there's the extensive work the distinguished research professor at Clarkson University has done in various fields of materials science and engineering.

She has led pioneering research on the conversion of graphite to diamonds, materials processing in giant centrifuges and high-energy heavy-ion implementation. Ms. Regel has conducted experiments in space.

"For my last very successful experiment, I spent 48 hours without going out of the lab. I take a coffeepot with me and just keep working. It was a very nasty, very smelly experiment, too," she said.

Then there's the Russian native's achievements in the arts. She's a prolific painter, with works hanging in homes and galleries around the world. You can see some of her donated works displayed at Clarkson. Ms. Regel paints so much that she estimates she has 300 completed canvases stored in her house.

Often, her artwork corresponds with short stories that she writes. In addition to being a scientist and artist, Ms. Regel is a published poet.

And as if all that isn't enough, the academic is a musician. In fact, when she was a student in Moscow, Ms. Regel was faced with the choice of whether to study classical piano or mathematics and science. She chose the latter, but has continued to compose and play music.

"I have so much in my mind, sometimes I'm stressed because I can't do what I want to do," Ms. Regel said. "For me the most important thing is, don't be interrupted by something that can damage your day. Be precise."

How does this modern Renaissance woman do it all? Through sheer determination and constant inspiration, she says.

"I can't think, if something is pushing me to do something or write something or paint — I just keep going," she said. "I believe everyone has a muse. Some people can't recognize or hear her. So many concentrate on getting more and more heights in their position or office. But everyone has a muse."

She says she's not the only scientist with a passion for the arts.

"When I'm talking to someone at a meeting for physics, we talk about our research for a few minutes, and then in parallel, we are talking about art, a new exhibit, a new book. It's logical. It's daily life. You can't separate yourself," Ms. Regel said. "My love and admiration for harvesting knowledge in science, literature, art and music started in my childhood and never stopped. I grew up with this love."

Ms. Regel thinks in color. That's obvious from her brightly hued artworks, which she paints with gem-infused dust to add sheen and dimension. One trio of prints hanging in her office is titled with musical terms like "Andante," all with a corresponding sheen of color. Her paintings use gold, opal, emerald and even diamond dust.

Growing up in the Soviet Union, Ms. Regel dreamed of becoming a cosmonaut, but she faced many hurdles as she pursued her scientific studies.

Not only was she one of few women following that path, Ms. Regel also was a minority in her country. Her heritage is Georgian, Armenian and Jewish, in contrast to the country's Slavic majority, she said.

Looking back on her hard work, she says, she comes up with one piece of advice.

"Just be yourself. Find what you're good with, and never stop. Go up and up and up. Get your heights," Ms. Regel said.

Educated in her native Russia, Ms. Regel holds that country's highest academic honor, the doctor of sciences, on top of her Ph.D. in physics and mathematics. She has been awarded two honorary doctorates, one from Clarkson in 2002 and another from Alabama A&M University in 2006.

She continues to lecture worldwide, having visited more than 65 countries.

"It doesn't matter where I am. I feel at home anywhere after staying a little more than a week, getting to know a new place, people, language and culture," Ms. Regel said. "My closest friends tell me that I'd be a perfect citizen of the moon or Mars when human exploration begins."

Ms. Regel has been at Clarkson, where she directs the International Center for Gravity Materials Science and Applications, since 1991. She is proud of Clarkson's growth as a university and research center, much of which she attributes to President Anthony G. Collins, who Ms. Regel says she "predicted" would lead the institution years before he took the position.

"I would take Tony to the moon, and I know he would share with me his last bread and water," she said. "I've said this is the best school and I did not change my mind. For what we are doing, we are the best college in the country."