The Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series in Materials Science and Engineering honors the memory of Professor Nelson W. Taylor (1869–1965) who was head of Penn State’s Department of Ceramics from 1933–1943. During his tenure as department head, Dr. Taylor refined the ceramics undergraduate curriculum, strengthened the graduate program, expanded ties with industry, and was able to attract important scientists (for example Woldemar A. Weyl) to the faculty. He is recognized as the individual most responsible for establishing the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as a major center for ceramics research. The Nelson W. Taylor Lecture Series was established in 1969, and has consistently attracted scientists of international prominence.
Nelson W. Taylor Awardees
* Nobel Laureate
1970 John Saylor
1970 Horst Scholze
1971 Clarence Zener
1972 Gene Haertling
1973 Linus Pauling*
1974 Herman Mark
1975 Cyril Smith
1976 John A. Duffie
1977 Elburt E. Osborn
1978 Edward Teller
1979 Turner Alfrey, Jr.
1980 Morris Cohen
1981 Irving Wender
1982 W. Dave Kingery
1983 William O. Baker
1984 Pierre-Gilles de Gennes*
1985 Julian Szekely
1986 Paul B. Weisz
1987 David W. Johnson, Jr.
1988 Makoto Kikuchi
1989 Sir Samual Edwards
1990 Mats Hillert
1991 Richard Balzhiser
1993 Richard E. Smalley*
1994 Gerhard Wagner
1995 Thomas W. Eagar
1997 Larry L. Hench
1998 Alan G. MacDiarmid*
1999 John Price Hirth
2001 George Craford
2003 Charles M. Lieber
2004 Robert S. Langer
2005 Marvin L. Cohen
2006 Lawrence L. Kazmerski
2007 Timothy P. Lodge
2008 John B. Goodenough*
2009 Tobin J. Marks
2010 Chad A. Mirkin
2012 Subra Suresh
2013 P. M. Ajayan
2015 Thomas Kelly
2016 Shuji Nakamura*
2017 Jennifer Lewis
2018 Ramamoorthy Ramesh
2019 Giulia Galli
2020 Cato T. Laurencin