During their Spring Reception, held April 10, 2015 at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center, Auburn University recognized Gopal Rao of the Materials Research Society (MRS) as the Materials Engineering Outstanding Alumnus of the Year.
Rao is editor of MRS Bulletin, the flagship publication of MRS and one of the most widely recognized and highly respected publications on materials research.
Rao received his M.S. degree in 1988 and Ph.D. degree in 1992, both in materials engineering, from Auburn University. He carried out his doctoral research work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, working on ion beam modification of materials. Subsequently, Rao served as postdoctoral fellow and research faculty member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 1992-1997. Rao has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers in scholarly journals and has presented at numerous international scientific conferences.
Rao joined MRS in 1997 as web science editor, charged with developing a new website for the Society with online publications, news and information. In 2001, he initiated the Materials360® e-newsletter that now reaches over 68,000 materials professionals and is a primary information tool for MRS. Rao became editor of MRS Bulletin in 2011. Under his stewardship, MRS Bulletin earned an Impact Factor (from the 2014 Thomson Science Citation Index (SCI) Journal Citation Reports®) of 5.069, ranking it in the top 10 percent of all materials science and applied physics journals. Each month, MRS Bulletin reaches nearly 16,000 members.
About the Materials Research Society
MRS is an international organization of almost 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life. MRS members are engaged and enthusiastic professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials research. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania (USA), MRS membership now spans over 80 countries, with more than 48 percent of members residing outside the United States. In addition to its communications and publications portfolio, MRS organizes high-quality scientific meetings, attracting over 13,000 attendees annually and facilitating interactions among a wide range of experts from the cutting edge of the global materials community. MRS is also a recognized leader in education outreach and advocacy for scientific research.
