Prof. Wei Li received his Ph.D. in experimental particle and nuclear physics at MIT in 2009. Following a postdoc position at MIT working on the first relativistic heavy ion physics program on the CMS experiment at the LHC, he joined the Rice faculty in 2012. Prof. Li's research interest focuses on understanding emergent behaviors in quantum chromodynamics and nuclear matter under extremes conditions, as well as the development of future particle acceleration and detection technology. Prof. Li has been a leader of the CMS high-energy nuclear program since its inception, serving as co-convener of the group. He has also been leading the time-of-flight detector upgrade project for nuclear physics program at the future high-luminosity LHC as the project director. Among many achievements, his group has pioneered a surprising discovery of quark-gluon plasma in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions. Prof. Li received an Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, a Sloan Research Fellowship and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the White House.