Dr. Ellen Hyeran Kang serves as the Associate Chair of Academics in the Department of Physics and an Associate Professor of Physics, with a joint appointment in the NanoScience Technology Center (NSTC). Before joining UCF, Dr. Kang completed her postdoctoral research in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. She holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University and both her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics from Seoul National University in South Korea.

Dr. Kang is also the President of the Association of Korean Physicists in America (AKPA), a leadership role she has held since 2025.

Dr. Kang is interested in bridging the worlds of physics and biology to understand how living cells function at its most foundational level. Her research group investigates protein biophysics and molecular biomechanics. Specifically, her team uncovers the fundamental mechanisms regulating the mechanical, structural, and physicochemical properties of the actin cytoskeleton—the essential structural component of living cells. Her work in this area earned her the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award (2020-2026). Outside the laboratory and office, Dr. Kang finds balance through practicing yoga and meditation, playing the piano, and spending quality time with her family.