CONTACT:
Rachel Fornataro
Materials Research Society
724-779-2771
fornataro@mrs.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WARRENDALE, PA – [October 22, 2013] – The Materials Research Society (MRS) is proud to announce the Vice President, Secretary and new Board members for the 2014 year, elected by the Society's global membership of over 16,400.

Oliver Kraft, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, will serve as MRS Vice President beginning January 1, 2014. He will lead the Board of Directors as MRS President in 2015, and finish his three-year term as Immediate Past President in 2016. More information on Kraft can be found at www.mrs.org/elections-2013-kraft.

Sean Hearne, Sandia National Laboratories, was reelected as MRS Secretary. He will serve a second three-year term through December 2016. Hearne's bio and candidate statement can be found at www.mrs.org/elections-2013-hearne.

In addition, the election brings five new members to the MRS Board of Directors, who will serve three-year terms beginning January 1, 2014. They are:

• Alexandra Boltasseva, Purdue University
• C. Jeffrey Brinker, Sandia National Laboratories and University of New Mexico
• Hideo Hosono, Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Kornelius Nielsch, University of Hamburg
• Loucas Tsakalakos, General Electric—Global Research Center

The MRS Board of Directors is the governing body of the Materials Research Society and is responsible for setting the strategic direction of major Society activities.

MRS is a growing, vibrant, international organization of over 16,400 materials researchers from academia, industry and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life. MRS members are engaged and enthusiastic professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials research.  In MRS they find an environment for collaboration and open exchange of ideas across all scientific disciplines.

Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania (USA), MRS membership now spans over 80 countries, with more than 45 percent of members residing outside the United States. In addition to its communications and publications portfolio, MRS organizes high-quality scientific meetings, attracting over 13,000 attendees annually and facilitating interactions among a wide range of experts from the cutting edge of the global materials community. MRS is also a recognized leader in education outreach and advocacy for scientific research.

More information about the Materials Research Society can be found on its website, www.mrs.org.

Photos of elected officers available upon request at fornataro@mrs.org.