Distinguished Alumni Award
2023 Winner: Dr. William “Bill” LaFontaine, Ph.D. ’90
The Cornell Department of Materials Science and Engineering is proud to honor William “Bill” LaFontaine, Ph.D. ’90 with the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award, in recognition of his outstanding career as a leader in industry.
As General Manager for IP and Vice President for Research Business Development at IBM, Bill played a key role in bringing new technologies to market and driving translational research efforts. Bill was a member of the MSE Advisory Council for nearly 20 years and continues to serve on the Cornell Engineering College Council.
We spoke with Bill via email about his experience in Cornell Engineering and his perspective on the future of engineering and creating impact with societal benefit through materials science. Read the story here.
Past Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award Winners
2022
Peter Green
Deputy laboratory director for science and technology and the chief research officer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Peter Green earned his doctorate in materials science and engineering from Cornell in 1985.
2019
Yonn Rasmussen
Vice President, Technology and Development Group, R&D, Innovation, Commercialization, Xerox Corporation. Dr. Rasmussen received her PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1989.
2018
James Hwang
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Lehigh University. Dr. Hwang received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1978.
2017
Linda Schadler
Vice Provost & Dean of Undergraduate Education, and Russell Sage Professor, Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Schadler received her PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1990.
2016
Eugene Fitzgerald
Merton C. Flemings-SMA Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Dr. Fitzgerald received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1989.
2015
Don Thomas
Author, Speaker and Former Astronaut with 4 space missions. Dr. Thomas received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering From Cornell in 1982.
2014
Karel Czanderna
President & CEO of Flexsteel Industries. Dr. Czanderna received her PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1984.
2013
Richard Vaia
Branch Chief of the Nanostructured & Biological Materials Branch at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Dr. Vaia received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1995.
2011
Sunggi Baik
President of Pohang University of Science and Technology. Dr. Baik received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1981.
Ronald Black
Chairman & CEO at Rambus. Dr. Black received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1990.
Frederick Schoen
Professor & Executive Vice Chair at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women's Hospital. Dr. Schoen received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1970.
Frank Shieu
Dean of the College of Engineering at the National Chung Hsing University. Dr. Shieu received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1990.
2010
Donald Morel Jr.
Chairman & CEO of West Pharmaceutical. Dr. Morel received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1984.
Gregory Galvin
President & CEO of Kionix. Dr. Galvin received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1984.
Harriet Kung
Associate Director of Science for BES with the US Department of Energy. Dr. Kung received her PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell University.
Jung-Hyun Oh
President & CEO of SSCP Co. Mr Oh graduated from Cornell with a BS and MS in Materials Science in 1995 and 1996, respectively.
2008
Fred Keller
Chairman & CEO of Cascade Engineering. Mr Keller graduated from Cornell with a BS in Materials Science & Engineering.
Roger Poeppel
Senior Engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Poeppel received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell in 1968.
Edwin L. (Ned) Thomas
Ernest Dell Butcher Professor of Engineering at Rice University. Dr. Thomas received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell University.
Rick Lih-Shyng Tsia
Chairman & CEO of Chugnwa Telecom. Dr. Tsai received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering From Cornell University.