The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb, the Harris Saunders Jr. Chair and Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering (with a courtesy appointment with the School of Materials Science and Engineering), to serve as program director in its Division of Materials Research (DMR) within the Directorate for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).
During her appointment, which began on Sept. 26, Bassiri-Gharb will oversee the Ceramics program within the division. As a program manager, she will be in charge of the merit review process for the Ceramics program, and support fundamental research in ceramics – e.g., carbides, oxides, nitrides, and borides, glass-ceramics, inorganic glasses, ceramic-based composites, and inorganic carbon-based materials – and set new directions for the development of new ceramic materials.
“I am honored and excited to serve the community in this new role at NSF. NSF has been one of the major funding sources for my own research, and I know first-hand the foundational role it has in supporting young investigators and initiating their careers,” said Bassiri-Gharb.