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Princeton University
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https://dof.princeton.edu/about/clerk-faculty/emeritus/george-w-scherer |
Prof. George Scherer is a native to New Jersey, and was born and raised in Teaneck, across the Hudson River from New York. received his BS and MS degrees in 1972 and PhD in 1974, all from MIT, where his thesis work was on crystal growth in glass. At Corning Glass Works from 1974 to 1985, his research included optical fiber fabrication, viscous sintering, and viscoelastic stress analysis. The latter work was the subject of his first book, Relaxation in Glass and Composites (Wiley, 1986). In Central Research at DuPont from 1985 through 1995, his work dealt principally with sol-gel processing, and especially with drying. In collaboration with Jeff Brinker of Sandia National Labs, he wrote a book entitled Sol-Gel Science (Academic Press, 1990). In February 1996, he became a full professor at Princeton University. His current research involves mechanisms of deterioration of concrete and stone, particularly by crystallization of ice and salts in the pores.
Over the course of his career, George has published more than 320 peer-reviewed articles. In 1997, he was elected into the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to the theory and practice of glass and ceramic processing. Numerous other accolades have been bestowed on him over the years including the Ralph K. Iler Award from the American Chemical Society, and multiple S. Brunauer awards from the Cements Division in the American Ceramic Society. Although he is a world-renowned researcher, Prof. Scherer is quintessentially the humblest of scientists. As an example, a former postdoc of his recounts him saying, “I never understood people who live science as a competition. If you see it as a large puzzle, every piece of the puzzle that someone else contributes to finding is one less that you have to find yourself.”
George Scherer, a revered materials scientist who is renowned for his seminal works in sol-gel science, cements, conservation of historic structures, and glass science, will retire after twenty-one years at Princeton.