Sarah Kurtz is a professor at the University of California, Merced where she is working both to help the university grow and to support the energy transition through a variety of studies, including a current study on long-duration energy storage. Previously, she served more than 30 years at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO. Dr. Kurtz is known for her contributions to developing multijunction, GaInP/GaAs solar cells, supporting the concentrator photovoltaic (PV) industry, and leading efforts on PV performance and reliability. Her work has been recognized with a jointly received Dan David Prize (2007), the Cherry Award (2012), and the C3E Lifetime Achievement Award (2016). She was elected to the NAE in 2020 for contributions to the development of GaInP/GaAs photovoltaic cells and leadership in solar cell reliability and quality. Dr. Kurtz earned her BA in chemistry and physics from Manchester College (1979) and PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University (1985).