Macebearer is the highest faculty honor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is symbolic of the faculty’s commitment of service to students, to scholarship, and to society.
George Pharr
While George Pharr’s research into nanoscale materials focuses on some of the smallest things imaginable, the impact of that research is vast. His work has the potential to affect everything from medicine to machines, from construction to computers.
The 2015 Macebearer is the McKamey Professor of Engineering, director of the UT–Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, and a joint faculty scientist in the Materials Science and Technology Division at ORNL. His established record of teaching, research, and service more than qualify him for this year’s top faculty award.
Last year he was named to the National Academy of Engineering, the highest honor an engineer can achieve in the United States. He is among only five UT faculty members to have earned this prestigious honor.
Pharr is internationally known for his research in small-scale mechanical testing. His development of nanoindentation for measuring hardness and elastic modulus forms the basis of an international standard for materials testing and is a common topic of discussion in textbooks on materials science and engineering.
He has received the Moses E. and Mayme Brooks Distinguished Professor Award for his outstanding teaching, research, and service. He was also among the first group of faculty to be named a Chancellor’s Professor.