Christopher earned a BA in Metallurgy & Materials Science (1980, First Class Honours) and a PhD in the field of Liquid Crystalline Polymers (1983), both from the University of Cambridge. He then held concurrent appointments as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Metallurgy & Materials Science, a Research Fellow at Darwin College, and a Lector in Materials at Trinity College.
In 1986-1987, Dr Viney was a World Trade Visiting Scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California.
At the end of 1987, Dr Viney joined the faculty of the University of Washington, Seattle. His primary appointments were in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering (1987-1990) and the Center for Bioengineering (1990-1995). He received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University in 1992, and achieved tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in September 1993.
In early 1995, Dr Viney moved to the University of Oxford, as a University Lecturer in the Department of Materials, and as the Tutorial Fellow in Materials at St Catherine’s College.
From December 1998, Prof. Viney held the established Chair in the Chemistry of Materials at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, where he also served as Deputy Head and then Head of Chemistry and as an elected member of the University Court. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (London) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) in 1999. In 2000, he received the Interdisciplinary Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry (“Distinguished for research into biomolecular materials, polymers and liquid crystals”), and was elected a Fellow of ASM International (“For significant contributions to the understanding of structure-property-processing relationships in biomaterials and for leadership in materials education”).
In the summer of 2003, Prof. Viney took up an appointment (Professor of Engineering) as one of the first eight Founding Faculty at the new University of California, Merced. His activities included leading the establishment of degree programs in Bioengineering and in Materials Science & Engineering (MSE), as well as leadership in General Education. He received the inaugural Faculty of the Year Award, presented by Student Affairs in 2006. He served as UC Merced’s first Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (2008-2010), and as Dean of College One (2009-2010). In 2008 he was the inaugural recipient of the Science Communicator Award presented by the University of California at Merced Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society (“Recognizing outstanding and unique lectures, presentations and articles for public audiences, and a long-term commitment to science communication”). He was recognized as UC Merced’s first Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Scholar in 2010. His numerous contributions to faculty governance included service as the founding Chair of the MSE Department from July 2018 to June 2021, and as Secretary and Parliamentarian to the Merced Division of the UC Academic Senate from July 2018 to August 2024. He received UC Merced’s Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award for Senate Faculty in 2023, and UC Merced’s Dr. Fred Spiess Award for Distinguished Service to the Academic Senate in 2024. Following formal retirement in July 2025 he now holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Chemical and Materials Engineering at UC Merced. He is UC Merced’s recipient of the 2026-27 Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship award.
Prof. Viney’s interdisciplinary research interests encompass (i) biomolecular materials (the design of materials assembly and processing strategies based on examples from Nature), (ii) modeling, characterization, and control of molecular order in the liquid crystalline state, and (iii) applying the kinetics of phase transformations to model infectious disease propagation. He has authored / co-authored over 180 academic publications (Google Scholar h-index 47), given over 160 technical conference and seminar presentations, and delivered over 430 outreach talks to K-14, admissions, and community audiences. His less formal interests include languages (German, Afrikaans, Dutch, Spanish), professional photography (nature, architecture, abstract), wilderness hiking, music (choral, classical organ), history, extremely spicy cuisine, and STEAM communication.