Frans Spaepen

Frans Spaepen is John C. and Helen F. Franklin Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard University. He got his undergraduate degree, in Metallurgical Engineering, at the K.U. Leuven in 1971, and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University in 1975. He joined the faculty of the Division of Applied Sciences at Harvard in 1977 as Assistant Professor, was appointed Associate Professor in 1981, and Full Professor in 1983. In 1984 he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Leuven, and in 2000-01 a Humboldt visitor in Köln and Jülich. From 1990 till 1998 he was Director of the Harvard Materials Research Laboratory/Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. Since 2002 he is the Director of the Rowland Institute at Harvard. In 2008-09 he is Interim Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

His research interests span a wide range of experimental and theoretical topics in materials science, such as amorphous metals and semiconductors (viscosity, diffusion, mechanical properties), the structure and thermodynamics of interfaces (crystal/melt, amorphous/crystalline semiconductors, grain boundaries), mechanical properties of thin films, the perfection of silicon crystals for metrological applications, and colloidal systems as models for the study of dynamics and defects in crystals and glasses.

He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (Chairman, Division of Materials Physics, 1992), of the Materials Research Society (Councillor: 1986-89; 1990-93; Chairman, Program Committee, 1993-2000), and of the TMS-AIME. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a member of the Vlaamse Academie van Wetenschappen en Kunsten, an External Member of the Max-Planck Society, and a member of ASM. He is co-editor of Solid State Physics, and an editorial board member of a number of materials science journals.

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Curriculum Vitae
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FRANS A. SPAEPEN

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Office: 617-495-3760     Lab: 617-495-4469     Fax: 617-495-9837
Email:  spaepen@seas.harvard.edu
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
2008-09 Interim Dean, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
2002- John C. and Helen F. Franklin Professor of Applied Physics, Harvard University
2002- Director, Rowland Institute at Harvard
1983-02 Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, Harvard University
2007 Visiting Professor, University of Leuven
2001 Visiting Professor, Forschungszentrum Jülich
2000 Visiting Professor, DLR-Köln
1990-98 Director, Materials Research Laboratory, Harvard University
1984-85 Visiting Professor, University of Leuven
1981-83 Associate Professor, Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University
1977-81 Assistant Professor, Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University
1975-77 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University

EDUCATION
1971 Burgerlijk metaalkundig ingenieur, University of Leuven
1975 Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Div. of Engineering & Applied Physics, Harvard University

HONORS AND AWARDS
1971 Fulbright Scholarship and Travel Grant
1973-75 Xerox Corporation Fellowship
1975-77 IBM Postdoctoral Fellowship
1980 Member, Böhmische Physical Society
1989 Fellow, American Physical Society
1992 Sauveur Memorial Lecturer, American Society for Metals
1994 Krengel Visiting Fellow, Technion
1994 Acta Metallurgica et Materialia Outstanding Paper Award (with D. Josell)
1996 Fellow, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
1996 DeVivo Lecture in Materials Science, Northeastern University
1998 Woody Award, Materials Research Society
1999 Humboldt Research Award for Senior Scientists
2001 Member, Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten
2002 Robert Franklin Mehl Award, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
2003 External Member, Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart
2004 Max Planck Lecturer, Max Planck Institutes, Stuttgart
2004 J.B. Cohen Lecturer, Northwestern University
2005 Heyn Medal, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde
2008 Fellow, Materials Research Society
2008 Member, National Academy of Engineering

MEMBERSHIPS
National Academy of Engineering
Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten
American Physical Society (Fellow)
Materials Research Society (Fellow)
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (Fellow)
American Society for Metals

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
1982-88 Associate Editor, Materials Letters
1985-90 Advisory Editorial Board, International Journal of Rapid Solidification
1985 Co-Chairman, Materials Research Society Symposium on Kinetics of Phase Transformations
1986-99 Member, Summer Research Group, Center for Materials Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory
1986-89 Councillor, Materials Research Society
1987 Co-Chairman, Materials Research Society Symposium on Artificial Multilayers
1988 Chairman of Physical Metallurgy Gordon Conference
1988 Member, National Materials Advisory Board Panel on Research Opportunities for Materials with Submicron-Sized Microstructures
1988 Member, Department of Energy Council on Materials Science, Panel on Clusters and Cluster-Assembled Materials
1988-95 Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids
1990 Co-Chairman, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting (Boston)
1990-93 Member, Solid State Sciences Committee, National Research Council
1990-93 Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Physics/ and Applied Physics Letters
1990-93 Councillor, Materials Research Society
1991-93 Vice Chairman, Chairman, Past Chairman, Division of Materials Physics, American Physical Society
1991-97 Member, Editorial Board, Applied Physics Reviews
1992-96 Council Member, Gordon Research Conferences
1992- Co-editor, Solid State Physics
1992 Member, Visiting Committee, Stichting FOM, The Netherlands
1993 Co-organizer, NATO Workshop on Undercooled Metallic Melts, Il Ciocco, Italy
1993-99 Chairman, Program Committee, Materials Research Society
1993- Member, Advisory Council, Barnett Institute, Northeastern University
1994-99 Member, Editorial Board, Physical Review B
1996-98 Member, Committee on Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, National Research Council
1997- Member, Advisory Board, Mesoscale Interface Mapping Project, Carnegie Mellon University
1997- Member, Visiting Committee, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
1998- Member, Science & Technology Steering Committee, Brookhaven National Laboratory
1999 Chairman, FOM/NMIR program evaluation panel, The Netherlands
1999 External Reviewer, Materials Research Center, Northwestern University
1999 Member, U.S. Delegation to the Second EU-US Conference on New Vistas in Transatlantic S&T Cooperation, Stuttgart, Germany
1999- Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board, Netherlands Instititute for Metals Research
1999-02 Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Physics and Applied Physics Letters
2000 Member, Visiting Committee, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
2001- Prinicipal Editor, Journal of Materials Research
2002 Member, Review Committee of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, VSNU (Association of Dutch Universities).
2002-03 Member, Advisory Review Board, Journal of Materials Research
2003 Chairman, FOM-NIMR program evaluation panel, The Netherlands
2003 Chairman, External Review Committee, Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara
2003- Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Center for Integrated Nanotechnology, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamost National Laboratory
2003- Member, Science Advisory Committee, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory
2004- Scientific Advisory Board, Max Planck Institute for Microstructural Physics, Halle, Germany
2008 Member, Evaluation Committee for the Departments of Mechanical Engineering of the Dutch Universities


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