UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two Penn State professors have been named Evan Pugh University Professors, an elite and prestigious distinction conferred by Penn State to only 79 faculty members since the designation’s establishment in 1960.
The two faculty members are Susan L. Brantley, the Dr. Hubert Barnes and Dr. Mary Barnes Professor in Geosciences; and Mauricio Terrones, the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics and professor of chemistry and of materials science and engineering. Their appointments are effective July 1.
The professorships are named for Penn State’s founding president, Evan Pugh, a renowned chemist and scholar who was at the helm of the University from 1859 to 1864. The Evan Pugh Professorships are awarded to faculty members who are nationally or internationally recognized leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; demonstrate significant leadership in raising the standards of the University with respect to teaching, research or creativity, and service; display excellent teaching skills with undergraduate and graduate students who go on to achieve distinction in their fields; and receive support from colleagues who also are leaders in their disciplines.
An advisory committee of seven Penn State faculty members, including three Evan Pugh professors, reviews nominations for the honor and makes recommendations to the University president.
Of the 79 Evan Pugh Professors, 25 are still actively teaching and pursuing research or creative work at Penn State.
Susan L. Brantley
Susan L. Brantley, the Barnes Professor of Geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, is an international leader in the field of hydrogeochemistry. Her research focuses on the physical, chemical and biological interactions that occur between rock, water, air and living organisms in the critical zone, a term that scientists use to describe the zone extending from bedrock to the treetops, where rock meets life.
Brantley has received numerous awards and recognitions for her research, including the Arthur L. Day Medal from the Geological Society of America and the Wollaston Medal from the Geological Society of London. She is an elected member and fellow of many professional societies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Brantley received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and master’s and doctoral degrees in geological and geophysical sciences, all from Princeton University.
Mauricio Terrones
Mauricio Terrones is the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, and professor of chemistry and of materials science and engineering. He is the founding director of the Penn State Center for Two Dimensional Layered Materials and director of the National Science Foundation IUCRC Center for Atomically Thin Multifunctional Coatings. Terrones has made considerable experimental and theoretical contributions to the field of nanoscience. He studies and builds nanomaterials that exhibit novel phenomena with potential applications in industry, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. Terrones is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), the American Physical Society, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the Mexican Academy of Sciences. He has authored more than 700 papers in scientific journals that have been cited more than 60,000 times.
Terrones earned a doctoral degree in chemical physics at the University of Sussex under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Harold W. Kroto and a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico.