Paul McEuen is the John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science and the director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. His research is currently focused on constructing functional cell-sized sensors and robots. He is also a novelist whose scientific thriller Spiral won the debut novel of the year from the International Thriller Writers Association.

McEuen is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.