Julia Weertman to Receive John Fritz Medal

Julia R. Weertman, Walter P. Murphy Professor Emerita of Materials Science and Engineering, has received the highly prestigious 2014 John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES). Weertman was selected for her role in the understanding of failure in materials and for inspiring generations of young women to pursue careers in the science and engineering fields. The medal will be presented at the AAES awards banquet in Washington, D.C. on April 28.

Weertman has made many contributions to understanding the basic deformation processes and failure mechanisms in a wide class of materials, from nanocrystalline metals to high-temperature structural alloys.

Her career has been marked by many honors. She received the Von Hippel Award from the Materials Research Society in 2003, the ASM International Gold Medal in 2005, two Special Creativity Awards for Research from the National Science Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Leadership Award from the Mineral, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS), and a Distinguished Engineering Educator Award from the Society of Women Engineers. She is a fellow of the TMS and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the National Academy of Engineering. 

Established in 1902, the John Fritz Medal honors researchers for “outstanding scientific or industrial achievements.” Past recipients include Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Westinghouse, and Orville Wright.