PRESIDENT’S POSTSCRIPT—BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY
During my first MRS Meeting in the fall of 1985, MRS Von Hippel Award winner R.W. Balluffi (MIT) presented experimental findings that challenged an assumption related to my thesis. In an act that was unquestionably selfless and honorable, Professor Balluffi ceded time to allow my advisor, S.L. Sass (Cornell), to present data supporting my young assumptions. Such willingness to share time and information across generations and with civility is a hallmark of the scientific community, and especially members of the Materials Research Society. Our meetings are a safe place to exchange information, because we respect people and data from all disciplines and career stages.
I am privileged to have served the past year as President of MRS—a Society I find to be energetic and that delivers opportunities to be intellectually recharged. This sense of selfless, enthusiastic engagement is shared and appreciated by our members.
I especially enjoy and appreciate the passion and excitement among our youngest members, as they present their talks and posters. They are catalysts for innovative engagement opportunities—PowerPoint™ Karaoke is one great example—that MRS provides and fosters. In the era of the digital echo, it is very easy to become distracted. The challenge to all of us is to enjoy the good experiences our career choices afford.
Michael R. Fitzsimmons 2019 MRS President
HIGHLIGHTS
MRS is committed to engaging our members and serving the needs of our community—from students to seasoned professionals. To those ends, we recently introduced “hot topic” areas—artificial intelligence (AI), quantum materials, emerging biomaterials, sustainability, and responsive and adaptive materials—to forge new materials communities and guide content development at the frontiers of materials research. Over the past year, these hot topic areas have proved highly popular, with strong webinar attendance, heavily downloaded journal articles, packed symposium sessions, and more. In fact, in a relatively short time, they have permeated all Society activities.
To further awareness of these new topics and their value to our members and materials community, MRS held its inaugural Frontiers Reception during the 2019 MRS Spring Meeting. We brought together those interested in any of the hot-topic areas—whether expert or new to the field—in a casual, fun, interactive way. During the energetic brainstorming session we cultivated relationships and shared ideas for building new materials communities. The inaugural Reception was so well received we repeated it at the 2019 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, where it drew over 400 attendees!
2019 also saw a continued focus on professional development and career services. Salary negotiation, resume writing, interviewing, and networking skills are just a few of our popular offerings. The iMatSci Innovation Showcase has become an increasingly valuable platform for those with entrepreneurial interests. And the Journal of Materials (JMR) annual “Early Career Scholars in Materials Science” issue provided a unique opportunity for researchers to be highlighted and promoted early in their careers.
This is just a small sampling of the community-driven programs MRS volunteers and staff delivered over the past year. To learn more about how you can participate in MRS and help shape the future of our vibrant Society, please visit mrs.org.
THANK YOU!
2019 MRS OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
Michael R. Fitzsimmons
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Tennessee
PAST PRESIDENT
Sean J. Hearne
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
VICE PRESIDENT
Matt Copel
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
SECRETARY
Eric A. Stach
University of Pennsylvania
TREASURER
David J. Parrillo
Dow
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Todd M. Osman
Materials Research Society
2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Shenda Baker
Synedgen Inc.
Griselda Bonilla
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Li-Chyong Chen
National Taiwan University
Dawnielle Farrar-Gaines
Johns Hopkins University
Claudia Gutiérrez-Wing
Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ)
Sarah Heilshorn
Stanford University
Frances A. Houle
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Mônica Jung de Andrade
The University of Texas at Dallas
Sergei V. Kalinin
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Kisuk Kang
Seoul National University
Lincoln J. Lauhon
Northwestern University
Paul C. McIntyre
Stanford University
Linda S. Schadler
The University of Vermont
Christopher A. Schuh
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rachel A. Segalman
University of California, Santa Barbara
Molly M. Stevens
Imperial College London
Yusheng Zhao
Southern University of Science and Technology
Ehrenfried Zschech
Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems
2019 OPERATING COMMITTEE CHAIRS
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Sanjay Mathur
University of Cologne
AWARDS
Judith L. MacManus-Driscoll
University of Cambridge
Suveen N. Mathaudhu
University of California, Riverside
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
David P. Norton
University of Florida
MEETINGS
Terry Aselage
Sandia National Laboratories
MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
Sossina M. Haile
Northwestern University
PUBLICATIONS
Shefford P. Baker
Cornell University
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Elizabeth Kupp
The Pennsylvania State University
