Dr. George M. Pharr, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been recognized by the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) with the 2021 William D. Nix Award “for development of methods for the quantitative determination of material mechanical response by nanoindentation and its use to elucidate fundamental mechanisms of material behavior.” Pharr has made significant contributions in materials science during his distinguished academic career at Texas A&M, Rice University and the University of Tennessee.
Pharr is a fellow of the Materials Research Society, ASM International, and the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2014.
According to the TMS website, this “award was established to honor William D. Nix and the tremendous legacy that he has developed and shared with the minerals, metals and materials community, and to highlight and promote continued progress and innovation relevant to research into the underlying mechanisms and mechanical behavior of macro-, micro- and nanoscale materials.”
Pharr will be presented a cash prize of $5,000, a certificate and medal at the TMS Annual Meeting and Exhibition, to be held virtually March 15-18.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pharr will not present a lecture on his research as part of the award at this year’s TMS meeting. This aspect of the prize has been postponed until the Spring 2022 TMS meeting which will be held in Anaheim, California, in March 2022.