The Materials Research Society has been my ‘home’ for all of my career as a scientist and educator. My first presentation was at a Fall Meeting, and since then, I’ve been an active and engaged member of the Society. I care deeply about MRS and its mission to advance interdisciplinary materials research and technology and would welcome the opportunity to serve you in this role. I have a range of professional experience spanning academia, industry and national labs, giving me a broad experience base to represent the larger MRS community.
MRS has been an extremely successful society, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Its success has resulted from delivering value to its members via outstanding meetings, impactful publications, opportunities for career growth, advocating for science broadly, and a long-standing commitment to diversifying and broadening participation in its membership.
However, each of these activities faces, and will continue to face challenges in the coming years. The pandemic strained aspects of the business model (though prior strong financial stewardship gave the Society enabled it to come through the other side with continued financial stability). MRS will need to be deliberate in embracing virtual programming to expand its outreach to the worldwide Materials community while maintaining its excellent, signature in-person meetings. Publications is also going through changes, with increasing requirements for open access and open data, the opportunities and perils of artificial intelligence, and strains regarding peer review and journal proliferation broadly. We will also need to continue our strong advocacy for advancing and funding both fundamental and applied science and be a part of the conversation regarding potential governmental restrictions on our ability to collaborate and advance knowledge with our colleagues around the world. Finally, at least in the US, there are new challenges associated with our community’s ability to broader participation in the scientific enterprise due to recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. MRS must consider how it can help its stakeholders in this changing environment.
During my three years on the Board (VP, Pres., Past Pres.) I will make sure that we keep our eye on these issues, and others that arise. The Presidential Line sets the Board agenda during our tri-annual meetings, and ensures that MRS Staff and Volunteers are aligned with Board decisions. My prior term as MRS Secretary, and the diversity of my professional experience, will allow me to effectively represent you, and make MRS an even stronger and more valuable entity.