Rajendra Bordia, President 2023-2024

Rajendra Bordia is George J. Bishop, III Professor of Ceramic and Materials Engineering at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. Bordia earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University and Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology.

An ACerS Fellow, Bordia is also the recipient of ACerS Outstanding Educator Award and the Greaves-Walker Roll of Honor from Keramos. He is a member and past chair of the Basic Science Division, a previous member of the Board of Directors and has served on several of ACerS committees including Diversity & Inclusion, Strategic Planning for Emerging Opportunities, Nominating Committee and Bulletin Editorial Advisory Board. Bordia has chaired or co-chaired several meetings and is an associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society.

Sanjay Mathur, Past President 2023-2024

Sanjay Mathur is Director and Chair, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Cologne, Germany. Mathur earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Laboratories from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India; Master of Philosophy (M. Phil) in Physical Chemistry and Master of Science (M. Sc.) in Physical Chemistry both from Vikram University, Ujjain, India.

An ACerS Fellow, Mathur is also the recipient of the Engineering Ceramics Division's Global Star Award and Bridge-Building Award. He is a past chair and member of the Engineering Ceramic Division and served on the ACerS and Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation boards, as well as several of ACerS committees including the Diversity & Inclusion, Strategic Planning for Emerging Opportunities, Kingery Award, Jeppson Award, ECerS-ACerS Joint Award, and Morgan Medal & Global Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award committees. Mathur has chaired or co-chair several meetings and was an associate editor of ACerS International Journal of Applied Ceramics Technology.

Monica Ferraris, President-elect 2023-2024

Monica Ferraris is a Full Professor of Science and Technology of Materials at Politecnico di Torino, Italy.  She received a Master’s Degree in Solid State Chemistry at the University of Torino, Italy, in 1985 and started her career as Junior Research Scientist with the Italian Telecom Research Laboratory in October 1985. Ferraris later joined Fiat Research Centre (1991) and Politecnico di Torino (1992) as a research Scientist and Lecturer at the Materials Science and Technology, where she is Full Professor since 2005.

Ferraris is an ACerS Fellow, member since 1995 and affiliated with the Engineering Ceramics Division, Associate Editor (2014-) and co-Editor in Chief (2015-) of ACerS’s International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, Chair of the Italy Chapter of The American Ceramic Society, 2017; she has been awarded with the Global Star Award, from The American Ceramic Society (2011) and she is a Global Ambassador of The American Ceramic Society (since 2016).

 

Daniel Tipsord, Treasurer 2022-2025

Daniel Tipsord is General Manager at Trans-Tech in Adamstown, Maryland, a multibillion dollar technical corporation. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Ceramic Engineering.

Dan is a trustee of the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation and is the current treasurer of the Association of American Ceramic Component Manufacturers. He is a member of the Manufacturing Division.

Stephen Freiman, Parliamentarian 2018-2024

Stephen Freiman formed Freiman Consulting, Inc. in Potomac, Maryland, USA after retiring as chief of the Ceramics Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He earned a B. ChE. and M. S. in Metallurgy from the Georgia Institute of Technology and received a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida.

Freiman is an ACerS Fellow, served as president of the Society in 1998-1999 and received Distinguished Life Membership in 2007. He is a member of the Glass & Optical Materials, Art, Archaeology & Conservation Science, and Energy Materials and Systems Divisions.

Mark Mecklenborg, Executive Director

Appointed in January, 2019, Mark Mecklenborg serves as the eleventh executive director of The American Ceramic Society since its formation in 1898. Prior to his appointment, Mecklenborg served as ACerS director of membership, meetings and publications. He has been with the Society since 1995, and was instrumental in developing strategic partnerships with international ceramic and glass organizations, leading to prominent conferences in the field. Under his leadership, Mecklenborg also created membership opportunities for graduate students, expanded local Sections, and established international Chapters. Mark is a founding member of the former Potters Council, now known as the International Ceramic Artists Network.

Kristin Breder, Director 2021-2024

Kristin Breder is Senior principal scientist at Saint-Gobain Research North America in Northborough, Massachusetts. Breder earned a M.S. in Physics Engineering at Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH), and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.

An ACerS Fellow, Breder is a member of the Engineering Ceramics and Basic Science Divisions, has served as chair of the Membership Services Committee, member of the Jeppson, Du-Co Ceramics and Corporate Environmental Achievement Award committees and an associate editor of the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology.

Olivia Graeve, Director 2021-2024

Olivia Graeve is professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Director of the CaliBaja Center for Resilient Materials and Systems, Faculty Director of the IDEA Engineering Student Center, at the University of California, San Diego. Graeve holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Structural Engineering from the University of California San Diego.

An ACerS Fellow, Graeve is a member of the Basic Science Division. She previously served as secretary, vice president and president of the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, chair of the Bulletin Advisory Board, and co-chair of programming for the Basic Science Division.

Shibin Jiang, Director 2021-2024

Shibin Jiang is President and CEO of AdValue Photonics Inc. and Founder, Chairman of the Board of AdValue Technology LLC in Tucson, Arizona, and is an adjunct professor, the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Universite de Rennes 1, France, MS in Optical Materials from Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics and Chinese Academy of Sciences, and BS in Chemical Engineering from Zhejiang University, China.

An ACerS Fellow and member and past chair of the Glass and Optical Materials Division, Jiang has served on the Nominating, Medal for Leadership in the Advancement of Ceramic Technology, and Darshana and Arun Varshneya Frontiers of Glass Science Lecture committee. AdValue Photonics Inc. received the Corporate Technical Achievement Award vin 2018 for the development and commercialization of Highly Rare-Earth Doped Silicate Glass Fibers.

Joseph Cesarano, Director 2022-2025

Joseph Cesarano III is President & Founder of Robocasting Enterprises LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science from University of Washington, MS in Ceramic Engineering also from University of Washington and BS in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University.

An ACerS Fellow, he is affiliated with Basic Science and Manufacturing divisions and was awarded the Rishi Raj Medal for Innovation and Commercialization. Cesarano is also a member of the Board of Trustees, Alfred University.

Marissa Reigel, Director 2022-2025

Marissa Reigel is R&D Execution Manager of the Separation Sciences and Engineering group, Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina. She holds doctorate and bachelors’ degrees in  Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

A member of the Energy Materials and Systems Division, serves as the division DEI representative. Dr. Reigel is a recipient of ACerS Du-Co Ceramics Young Professional Award. She has co-chaired the Young Professionals Network, was a member of the Member Services Committee, and is a  representative to the Material Advantage Committee.

Winnie Wong-Ng, Director 2022-2025

Winnie Wong‑Ng is a Research Chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Maryland. She received a B. Sc. degree in Chemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Ph.D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry from Louisiana State University, which was followed by post-doctoral and research associate/lecturer appointments in the Chemistry Department of University of Toronto, Canada.

An ACerS Fellow and Distinguished Life Member, Wong-Ng is a past chair and past trustee of the Electronics Division, is a recipient of the Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award, served on the ACerS Publications and Nominating Committees, is a current member of the Morgan Medal and Global Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee, and is an associate editor of the Journal of ACerS.

Alexandra Navrotsky, Director 2023-2026

Alexandra Navrotsky is director of the Center for Materials of the Universe and professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago. Navrotsky started her academic faculty career at ASU and recently returned there after working at Princeton University and the University of California, Davis.

She has been an ACerS member for almost 50 years and is an ACerS Fellow. She has won numerous Society awards, including the Best Paper Award of the Nuclear & Environmental Technology Division (2001), the Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award (2005), and the W. David Kingery Award (2016). She also belongs to ACerS Basic Science Division.

Dileep Singh, Director 2023-2026

Dileep Singh leads the Thermal and Structural Materials (TSM) group in Argonne National Laboratory’s Applied Materials division. Dileep joined Argonne as a post-doctoral fellow in 1991. He received a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), an MS in Metallurgical Engineering from Wayne State University, and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Utah.

He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the American Society of Metals (ASM)-International, and is an academician of the World Academy of Ceramics. Singh was awarded the Engineering Ceramics Division's James I. Mueller award in 2019. He has received two R&D 100 Awards, Federal Laboratory Consortium award for technology transfer,  and Distinguished Engineering Achievement Award from the Engineer’s Council.  Dileep serves on the editorial board of several journals.

Todd Steyer, Director 2023-2026

Todd Steyer is currently the Chief Engineer for Materials and Manufacturing R&D at The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, California. He earned a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

An ACerS Fellow, he is a member of the Basic Science Division, Engineering Ceramics Division, Southern California Section, and am past chair and two-term trustee of ACerS Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation.

Michael Thuis, Student Member 2023-2024

Michael Thuis is a Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. Student at Northwestern University in Professor Haile's group. He completed his B.S. in metallurgical and materials engineering at the Colorado School of Mines.

In addition to his PCSA involvement, he has been heavily involved with building entrepreneurship and innovation (E&I) initiatives including serving as a Stanford University Innovation Fellow (UIF) and helping run 9 innovation conferences/competitions (among other initiatives).