Ashley White, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has received the Materials Research Society (MRS) Woody White Service Award “for her work in cultivating sustainable development as a core MRS activity embodied by the Focus on Sustainability (FoS) Subcommittee, and tireless advocacy through the Government Affairs Committee and the MRS Congressional Fellowship. White has written numerous articles for MRS Bulletin and Meeting Scene, and she continues to promote MRS values, namely interdisciplinarity and quality of life, through her extensive community efforts.” The MRS Woody White Service Award honors outstanding individuals who have embodied MRS’ Mission, Vision, and Values for an egalitarian interdisciplinary community advancing materials science and technology to improve the quality of life. It may be given in recognition of long-term, impactful service to the Society, as well as for special projects/programs that significantly impacted the Society.
White is the director of communications for Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS), a US Department of Energy user facility. In this role, she develops and implements a comprehensive strategy to convey the ALS’s key accomplishments to current and potential users, federal funders and policymakers, and the public. Prior to joining the ALS, she served in the US Senate as a MRS/OSA Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow and at the National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow. She previously managed the Materials Science Research Program at the US Green Building Council.
White received her PhD degree in materials science from the University of Cambridge and undergraduate degrees in materials science and engineering and music from Virginia Tech. She has served as co-chair or organizer for multiple sustainability events at MRS meetings, and continues to do so through her role as chair of the FoS Subcommittee. She has led or participated in 14 Congressional Fellowship information sessions at MRS meetings and continues her service to the Government Affairs Committee, currently chairing the Congressional Fellowship program as a member of the Advocacy, Education, and Outreach Subcommittee.
