News & Events / Colloquia & SeminarsMorris E. Fine Lecture
Biography
Morris E. Fine, the Walter P. Murphy and Technological Institute Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering, is a pioneer in teaching the unifying concepts underlying all classes of materials: metals, ceramics, polymers, biomaterials, and electronic materials. He is a founder of Northwestern’s materials science and engineering department, the first of its kind in the world. His research career at Northwestern has spanned a broad range of topics, from physical chemistry to mechanical behavior, and includes studies on metals and alloys, ceramics, and composite materials.
Fine received his PhD in physical metallurgy from the University of Minnesota in 1943. After working on the Manhattan Project in Chicago and Los Alamos, he worked for Bell Labs until 1954, when he came to Northwestern.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fine is a fellow of the Metals, Minerals, and Materials Society (TMS), ASM International, the American Ceramic Society, and the American Physical Society. He is an honorary member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers and the Japan Institute of Metals.
Fine published more than 300 papers. He received numerous awards, including the TMS 2009 Application to Practice Award for research that led to a new steel with better corrosion resistance, toughness, and welding properties. This steel was selected to be used for a new bridge in northern Illinois.
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