Earth and Mineral Sciences

Professor John Mauro elected member of National Academy of Engineering

John Mauro, professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State, has been named a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — John Mauro, professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State, has been named a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He was selected for “developing and applying data-driven models and machine learning that enable high-strength, damage-resistant glasses," according to the NAE.

Mauro is among the 111 new members and 22 international members elected to the NAE on Feb. 9, bringing the total U.S. membership to 2,388 and the number of international members to 310. The newly elected class will be formally inducted during the NAE's annual meeting on Oct. 2, in Washington D.C.

“I feel deeply honored to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering,” said Mauro.  “I am very grateful to my family, teachers, colleagues and students for everything they have taught me and for all of their support.”

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education." 

Mauro is a world-recognized expert in fundamental and applied glass science, statistical mechanics, computational and condensed matter physics, thermodynamics and the topology of disordered networks. He is the co-inventor of three iterations of Corning’s Gorilla Glass, a thin, durable, touch sensitive, cover glass that has been used in billions of cellphones, tablets and touch-screen devices worldwide. Mauro developed Gorilla Glass compositions and dozens of other patented products and processes during his 18-year career at Corning and after joining Penn State’s faculty in 2017.

Mauro serves as the chair of Penn State’s Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Materials Science and Engineering and associate head for graduate education in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ (EMS) Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Mauro is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, the Society of Glass Technology and the National Academy of Inventors. He also serves as editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society.

Mauro received the University’s Faculty Scholar Medal in 2021 and the EMS Paul F. Robertson Award for Research Breakthrough of the Year in 2019 for his pioneering work in decoding the “glass genome” – the code to design new functional glasses.

Mauro earned a bachelor of science in glass engineering science and a bachelor of arts in computer science, both in 2001, and a doctorate in glass science in 2006, all from Alfred University.

Last Updated March 1, 2022

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