Russell Messier, professor of engineering science and mechanics, has retired. In 1973 Messier began his career as a research associate in the Materials Research Laboratory. Throughout the years he moved on to become a senior research associate, associate professor of solid state science, and in 1989 he was named professor of engineering science and mechanics. Messier served as acting director of the Materials Research Laboratory in 1992.

His main research areas included thin-film preparation and characterization, sputtering, morphology, diamond and cubic boron nitride coatings and sculptured thin films. He was a co-discoverer of the explosive crystallization phenomena and the highly anisotropic etching phenomena in amorphous Ge and related thin films.

During his career, Messier authored more than 200 articles in refereed journals and supervised dozens of graduate students. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the international journal Diamond and Related Materials.

Messier received his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Northeastern University and his doctoral degree in solid state science from Penn State.