Y. Shirley Meng, University of California, San Diego, has earned the 2020 Faraday Medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry. The Faraday Medal is awarded annually by the Electrochemistry Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry to an electrochemist working outside of the UK and Ireland in recognition of their outstanding original contributions and innovation as a mid-career researcher in any field of electrochemistry.

Eric A. Stach has been named the director of the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a professor of materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Faculty Chair of the Nanoscale Characterization Facility in the Singh Center for Nanotechnology. He is also a co-founder and chief technology officer of Hummingbird Scientific, a nanotechnology firm that develops advanced instrumentation for nanoscale characterization.

Ramamoorthy Ramesh has been elected as a foreign member of The Royal Society for his “discoveries in complex oxides, from novel fundamental physics, through new materials, to their application in ferroelectric, magnetic, and multiferroic devices.” He is a senior faculty scientist in the Materials Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and professor of physics and materials science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Ramesh pioneered major areas of research, including the materials physics of ferroelectrics. His studies on correlated phenomena in oxides resulted in the discovery of colossal magnetoresistance in manganites.

S. Suresh Babu will serve a six-year term on the National Science Board. He is The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Governor's Chair for Advanced Manufacturing, and director of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. He is one of the world's leading experts in developing advanced materials, serves on several multi-university and multi-partner projects, including IACMI—The Composites Institute, and on projects for the US government, including research for the Navy. Babu is active in conducting research at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL with support from the DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Yonggang Huang and Samuel Stupp, Northwestern University, were recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States. Additionally, Stupp was awarded the 2020 Nanoscience Prize from the International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation, and Engineering.

Mark Hersam has been selected to receive the 2020 Medard W. Welch Award, the top research award from the American Vacuum Society. Hersam is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and the director of Northwestern University's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. He received the award for “pioneering contributions to the synthesis, surface science, chemical functionalization, and application of low-dimensional nanoelectronic materials.”

Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Flaschen Professor of Ceramic Science and Engineering, and professor of electrical engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), has been named an Evan Pugh Professor. This prestigious distinction has been awarded to only 73 faculty members since the establishment of the designation in 1960. The professorships are named for Penn State's founding president, Evan Pugh. This Professorship is awarded to faculty members who are nationally or internationally recognized leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; demonstrate significant leadership in raising the standards of the university with respect to teaching, research or creativity, and service; display excellent teaching skills with undergraduate and graduate students who go on to achieve distinction in their fields; and receive support from colleagues who also are leaders in their disciplines.

Kristen H. Brosnan has joined Superior Technical Ceramics as Technology Director. She most recently served as Technology Manager for Metals and Ceramics at General Electric (GE) Research. At GE, her research concentrated on high-temperature materials solutions for extreme environments. She also served as the principal investigator for an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) project related to narrow body aircraft auxiliary power units, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Materials Research Society (MRS).

The following MRS members were named World Economic Forum 2020 Young Scientists:

Wei Gao

California Institute of Technology

Philip Moll

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Michael Saliba

Universität Stuttgart

Andy Tay

Stanford University

Michael Saliba has been appointed the new Head of the Institute for Photovoltaics at the Universität Stuttgart, effective June 1, 2020. He is the recipient of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize in 2020.

Lynden A. Archer, the James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor in Engineering at Cornell University, has been named the Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering. His research focuses on polymer-nanoparticle hybrid materials to create durable, cost-effective electrochemical energy-storage systems.

James De Yoreo has been named a 2020 Distinguished Scientist Fellow by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. He is a Laboratory Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He co-directs the Northwest Institute for Materials Physics, Chemistry, and Technology, and is deputy director for the Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales and a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington. He will receive USD$1 million in funding from the DOE over three years for new research of his choice. His current research focuses on understanding and manipulating interactions, assembly, and crystallization in nanoparticle, biomolecule, and mineral systems.

Venkat Viswanathan, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and colleagues, have secured more than USD$4 million from the US Department of Energy Moonshot Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program, and partnered with battery maker 24M Technologies to produce and test commercial-size lithium-metal cells. He has made major progess in developing anodes composed of pure lithium, which promise a new class of batteries that pack more energy and deliver more power for a given amount of weight. This could enable cheaper electric vehicles and low emission aircrafts.

Sudipta Seal has been named a 2020 Fellow of The American Ceramic Society. He is a Pegasus Professor at the University of Central Florida. His research includes the medical, space, and environmental industries. Recently, when COVID-19 hit Central Florida, he began research on using nanotechnology to help protect medical care providers.

Andrea Hodge has been appointed Chair of the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California (USC). She is also the Arthur B. Freeman Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and until July 2020, served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs at USC. Additionally, she serves as co-director for the Core Center of Excellence in Nano Imaging, a role that she will continue for the next year.

Paul Alivisatos received the 2021 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society for “foundational contributions to the chemistry of nanoscience, development of nanocrystals as nanotechnology building blocks, and leadership in the chemistry and nanoscience communities.” He is the Samsung Distinguished Professor of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and a professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as the university's executive vice chancellor and provost. He is also director emeritus of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Cato T. Laurencin is president of the IMHOTEP Connecticut NMA Society, a community-based affiliated organization of the National Medical Association (NMA). The NMA represents the interests of Black physicians and the patients that they serve. He is a designated university professor, the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Chief Executive Officer of The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for 2020 to:

Harald Rose

Universität Ulm and Technische

Universität Darmstadt

Maximilian Haider

CEOS GmbH

Knut Urban

Forschungszentrum Jülich

Ondrej L. Krivanek

Nion Co.

“for sub-ångström resolution imaging and chemical analysis using electron beams.”

Do you have an announcement about yourself or a colleague that you'd like to share with the Materials Research Society and materials communities? We will publish a selection of these in upcoming issues of MRS Bulletin. Spread the good news and send your announcement to [email protected].