May 25, 2005
Purdue professor to help create policy for U.S. Department of State
|
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A Purdue University professor has been named to participate in a new model that engages American academic research leaders to help formulate and implement U.S. foreign policy for the Department of State.
Alexander H. King, professor and head of Purdue's School of Materials Engineering, received a Jefferson Science Fellowship at a ceremony May 24 in Washington, D.C. The fellowship program is a partnership among the State Department, U.S. institutions of higher education and philanthropic foundations.
The goal of the fellowships is to bring together tenured science and engineering faculty members from U.S. institutions of higher learning to contribute their expertise to the scientific and technological aspects of foreign policy issues. George Atkinson, science and technology adviser to the secretary of state, said the individuals selected for these fellowships are chosen for their professional qualifications and for their ability to take technical scientific knowledge and present it in lay terms.
The Jefferson Science Fellows Program was established by the Department of State in 2003 as a three-year pilot program. It is a collaboration among the MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Corp.; the U.S. science, technology and engineering academic community; the National Academies; and the State Department.
Each recipient spends one year full-time at the department while on assignment in Washington, D.C., and may involve visits to U.S. foreign embassies and missions. After the year is completed, fellows agree to consult with the State Department for an additional five years.
King, who received his doctorate from the University of Oxford and a bachelor of metallurgy degree from the University of Sheffield, specializes in the study of "grain boundaries," which are tiny features that define the properties of metals and ceramics. A native of London, King came to Purdue in 1999 and had been a faculty member in the materials science and engineering department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he also served as vice provost for graduate studies. He has written more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers, edited four technical books, lectured on four continents and was the 2002 president of the Materials Research Society.
Writer: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu
Sources: George Atkinson, (202) 647-8725, atkinsongh@state.gov
Alexander King, (765) 494-4100, alexking@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web sites:
Purdue University Home Page
To the News Service home page