Klaus van Benthem Named American Ceramic Society Fellow
Klaus van Benthem, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Davis, has been named a fellow of the American Ceramic Society, or ACerS. Van Benthem was nominated by Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering Subhash Risbud.
ACerS fellows show outstanding contributions to ceramics scholarship, ceramic arts and sciences, the ceramics industry and the organization. Fellows must have been active in the society for at least five years and must be nominated by another member of ACerS.
“I am very proud and honored to be recognized as a fellow of the American Ceramic Society, which is the professional society I am dedicating most of my professional service,” said van Benthem. “The recognition by my society colleagues feels rewarding. It is also a great testament to the hard work of my students over the past several years.”
Van Benthem's research group studies how atomic-scale defect structures evolve in response to externally applied stress fields, including high temperatures, mechanical impact and electric fields or currents. He is currently investigating how electric fields alter ceramic microstructures, with the hope of developing a mechanistic understanding of how to manipulate physical properties either temporarily or permanently.
Van Benthem earned his Master of Science degree from the University of Münster and his Ph.D. from the Max-Planck-Institute for Metals Research Stuttgart and the University of Stuttgart in Germany. He held positions as a postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before joining UC Davis in 2008.
Van Benthem has published more than 170 peer-reviewed articles and earned a Faculty Early Career Development Program, or CAREER, Award from the National Science Foundation in 2010, the same year he joined ACerS.
As an active member of the organization, van Benthem has organized symposia on interface science at several conferences and served as one of the lead organizers for the 2024 Basic Science and Electronics Division Meeting held in February.
He is currently leading the Ceramographic Exhibit & Competition, a poster competition held at the society's annual meeting to promote the use of microscopy and microanalysis tools in the investigation of ceramics. The winner of the contest receives the Roland B. Snow Award, which van Benthem won in 2021 with one of his students. In 2017, he also received the society's prestigious Richard M. Fulrath Award in recognition of excellence in research and development of ceramic sciences and materials.
Van Benthem will be recognized for his achievement at ACerS' 126th Annual Meeting in October.