Doherty Celebrates Retirement from Drexel University

JOM, Aug 2008

After more than 25 years, Roger Doherty retired this spring from Drexel University in Phi- ladelphia, Penn- sylvania. Doherty joined the staff of Drexel in 1982. served as acting head of the De- partment of Ma- terials Engineer- ing from 1998-2000, and assumed his current role. A. W. Grosvenor Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, in 2003. Prior to joining Drexel, Doherty worked as a research scientist, a visiting scientific expert, and a professor in the United Kingdom (where he was educated). Brazil, and the Netherlands.

Drexel held a dinner and department fundraiser in Doherty's honor in May. At the event, more than $10,000 was raised to support the Department of Materials Science and Engineering Endowment Fund, which was launched in 2003 in honor of the retirement of Alan Lawley, a Drexel professor and former president of TMS. The endowment was established to help recruit and retain high-quality materials students and faculty.

At the celebration, Doherty presented awards to a number of Drexel alumni, faculty, staff, and students in recognition of their achievements. Among the awardees were two TMS members. David E. Laughlin, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania, won the 2008 Department of Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award. Antonios Zavaliangos, interim department head and professor at Drexel, was awarded the 2008 Outstanding Service Award.

Doherty, a senior member of TMS, was elected a fellow of the society in 2007 for pioneering research and seminal contributions in physical metallurgy embracing solidification, microstructural evolution, recrystallization, phase transformations, and mechanical properties of aluminum and other industrial alloys. Being named a fellow is the highest honor bestowed by TMS.