Professor Fatima (pronounced: FAA-teh-maa) Toor is the Lowell G. Battershell Endowed Chair in Laser Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Iowa. Dr. Toor also holds a secondary appointment in the Physics and Astronomy department and is an affiliate of the MATFab facility at the University of Iowa (UI). She is also an affiliate member of the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center - Experimental and Redox Therapeutics program. At UI, her team's research involves the design, fabrication, and testing of innovative semiconductor optoelectronics devices for applications in the health, environment, and energy industries.

Dr. Toor founded MIRTHz Photonics, Inc in 2025 to commercialize mid-IR and terahertz photonics technologies and serves as the President and CTO of the company. She is also the Vice President at an Iowa-based startup, Juggernaut Life Sciences, Inc leading efforts in developing precision surgical technologies that utilize quantum-engineered mid-infrared lasers. She was a co-founder and Vice President of Firefly Photonics, LLC from 7/2018-3/2023, an Iowa-based startup company focused on mid-infrared LEDs for defense and gas sensor applications. Dr. Toor has published in many peer-reviewed scientific journals, presented at various scientific conferences and received several awards for academic excellence.

Dr. Toor is a Senior Member of IEEE, Optica, and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics professionals, and a Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Physical Society (APS), and American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS). 

Dr. Toor was inducted to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) local chapter at the University of Iowa in 2023 and serves on the chapter's advisory committee. In 2026, she became a Senior Member of the national NAI organization. 

Dr. Toor obtained a Ph.D. and MA in electrical engineering from Princeton University where she developed spectrally high performing (4-wavelength; time and wavelength multiplexed; single mode) InGaAs/InAlAs/InP based mid-infrared wavelength quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). While at Princeton, she also minored in physics and Science Technology and Environmental Policy (STEP) from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. She received a B.S. degree with a double major in engineering sciences and physics from Smith College.