Naresh Thadhani has been appointed chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in the College of Engineering, effective Aug. 1.

As chair, Thadhani will oversee a school that is ranked in the top 10 in both undergraduate and graduate programs and is among the largest of its kind in the nation.

“Naresh brings with him a great set of teaching, research and outreach skills to the position of school chair. He will provide excellent vision and leadership to ensure the success of the faculty, staff and students,” said Gary S. May, dean of the College of Engineering. “Naresh will use his exceptional knowledge and experience to continue to advance the school and build on its successes.”

Thadhani, who is currently a professor and associate chair of the school, said he is honored to have the opportunity to serve as chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

“I look forward to partnering with the outstanding faculty, staff, students and alumni in taking MSE to the next level of excellence and recognition,” he said.

Thadhani’s research focuses on studies of shock-induced physical, chemical and mechanical changes for the processing of novel materials and for proving the deformation and fracture response of metals, ceramics, polymers and composites subjected to high-rate impact loading conditions.

He earned his Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He joined the faculty of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech in September 1992.

Since joining Georgia Tech, Thadhani has advised 15 visiting scientists and post-doctoral fellows; graduated 15 Ph.D. and 18 master’s degree students; mentored 49 undergraduate research assistants; attracted total research funding of $15 million from federal agencies as well as from several national laboratories and industries; co-edited 12 books and proceedings; published more than 140 papers in refereed journals and another 140 papers in conference proceedings; and established a high-strain-rate laboratory with state-of-the-art dynamic high pressure generation equipment, time-resolved diagnostics and computational capabilities.

Thadhani has been recognized as a Fellow of ASM International based on his contributions in “materials effects of shock compression” and of the American Physical Society based on his contributions in “shock physics of materials.”