Raymond Pearson, Director of Lehigh University's Center for Polymer Science and Engineering, has been named interim Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, effective July 1, 2015.
Since joining the Lehigh faculty in 1990, Dr. Pearson, professor in the department of materials science and engineering, has positively influenced countless students and developed award-winning research endeavors. Throughout this time, he has assumed various leadership roles, including chairing the faculty committee overseeing graduate studies in his department. As director of Lehigh's Center for Polymer Science and Engineering and its Microelectronic Packaging Materials Lab, he has mentored 17 PhD students and more than 25 master's students, and actively promotes professional growth in students through participation at national and international conferences. Many of his students have found positions in various sectors of the high-tech industry, and others have earned academic appointments -- including one department chair.
In the lab, Ray's research interests include all aspects of processing, deformation, yield, and fracture of polymers. Recently, he has been involved in the development of polymeric materials for 3D printing. He has authored 60 refereed publications and eight textbook chapters, presented nearly 100 conference papers and numerous conference presentations in the U.S. and abroad. He has also edited volumes for the American Chemical Society, Materials Research Society, Polymer Engineering and Science, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has won the Hillman Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Advising as well as the Hillman Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Student Advising.
Ray is a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). He is the Councilor for the Lehigh Valley Section of SPE as well as the Chair-Elect for the SPE Polymer Additives and Modifiers Division and the New Members Chair for the newly formed SPE Special Interest Group on Additive Manufacturing. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Chemistry and its Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering. He also holds membership in the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering, the Adhesion Society and the International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society.
Ray obtained his doctorate in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan after a successful seven-year career with General Electric, and a B.S. in chemistry from University of New Hampshire.
