David Clarke named life member of the American Ceramic Society

David Clarke, Gordon McKay Professor of Materials, was named a 2009 Distinguished Life Member of the American Ceramic Society (ACS).

The Distinguished Life Member grade of Society membership is the Society's most prestigious level of membership and is awarded in recognition of a member's contribution to the ceramics profession.

The Constitution of the Society states: "Distinguished Life Members shall be current members of the Society of professional eminence who, because of their achievements in the ceramic arts or sciences, or their service to the Society, are elected to such membership by the Board of Directors."

A member of the Basic Science Division since joining the ACS in 1976, Clarke has been Chair of the Basic Science Division as well as a Director of the Society, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society. He has received the Sosman Award, the Richard M. Fulrath Memorial Award, Edward Henry Award and Ross Coffin Purdy Award and was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1985. He was also recently listed as author of one of the 11 best papers in the 110 years of publication of the Journal.

Clarke pursues three primary areas of research: high temperature materials, including thermal barrier coatings; materials for electronics and MEMS devices; and electrical and piezoelectric properties of ceramics. The research includes the development and application of novel sensor for measuring stress and temperature with a focus on optical based methods.

He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England and B.Sc. (First Class Honors) in Applied Sciences from the University of Sussex, England.

Prior to his appointment at Harvard, Clarke was a Professor of Materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also served as Senior Manager of the Materials Department at IBM Research Division in Yorktown Heights, New York; an Associate Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and had appointments at Rockwell International Science Center and the University of California, Berkeley.

Clarke has been involved in many different materials research and development programs, contributing to ceramics, metals, composites and semiconductors, as well as introducing new approaches for studying the interrelations between microstructure and properties. He is author or co-author of more than 350 papers, holder of 6 patents, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.