Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of UT Dallas faculty and students. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communication manager.
Chemistry Professor Elected to European Academy
Dr. Ray Baughman
Dr. Ray Baughman, the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry, was recently elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Baughman, who also directs the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, will be inaugurated with other members at a meeting of the academy in March 2019.
The academy is a transnational and interdisciplinary network of experts in science and the arts, devoted to analyzing societal and ethical challenges in Europe and collaborating to solve complex issues.
“Since I have long been interested in ways that individuals in the arts and in the sciences can work together to enrich the world, I am very happy about the opportunities that membership in the academy will enable,” Baughman said.
Baughman joined the UT Dallas faculty in 2001 after 31 years working in industry. His research interests include energy conversion, harvesting and storage; materials with novel structures and properties, especially new forms of carbon; nanomaterials processing; carbon nanotubes and graphene; electrochemical devices; smart textiles; artificial muscles; highly conducting organic polymers; and the applications of technological advances.
Baughman has 89 issued U.S. patents and has published more than 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Physical Society. He also is a member of the Academia Europaea, a foreign member of the European Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, an Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and an honorary professor at seven universities in China.
ECS Professor Named Chair of American Vacuum Society Board
Dr. Amy Walker
Dr. Amy Walker, professor of materials science and engineering, has been named chair of the American Vacuum Society (AVS) board of trustees for 2018.
The board is an elected committee that oversees the awarding of all the professional and student awards as well as the AVS honors, such as fellow of the society.
“This is one of the most rewarding positions at AVS since we, the trustees, learn about all the wonderful activities of AVS members, which is a true honor,” said Walker, who was elected as a trustee in 2016.
Walker has a history of involvement with AVS. In 2017, she was the program chair for the 64th AVS International Symposium and Exhibition, the premier meeting of the organization that draws more than 2,000 attendees each year. She also has been on the board of directors and chair of the Applied Surface Science Division, among other positions.
Walker follows Dr. Yves Chabal, head of the materials science and engineering department, who was chair of the board in 2016.
“This is highly unusual. It’s not often that two faculty from the same school — and department — are elected to the same board and also become its chair,” Walker said.
In addition to Walker and Chabal, several UT Dallas faculty members are fellows of the society. The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science has one of the largest AVS student chapters.
“AVS is one of the most supportive and friendliest professional societies in the area of materials, interfaces and thin films. It has provided me with countless professional leadership opportunities, but perhaps more importantly, I’ve met many people along the way who are now friends,” Walker said. “I think AVS also provides a natural platform to promote our students, faculty and school on both a national and international level.