Jim De Yoreo, a materials scientist and Battelle Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was elected the vice-chair of the Materials Section of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). De Yoreo began his tenure as vice-chair on July 1, 2024. He will serve a second year as chair of the section beginning in July of 2025.

“I’m excited for this new role at the NAE,” said De Yoreo. “Materials science is essential to the technologies we need to meet emerging challenges.”

The NAE was founded in 1964 as “a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation.” The over 2,000 NAE members are senior engineers from government, business, and academia elected by their peers. The NAE is organized into 12 broad sections representing different engineering fields. All NAE members are affiliated with a primary section.

The Materials Section focuses on “materials of engineering significance,” encompassing the entire life cycle of materials studies. This ranges from the synthesis of novel materials to understanding structure–property relationships.

De Yoreo was elected to the NAE in 2022. In his role as section vice-chair, he will support the current chair and assist them in managing the section. He will then assume the role of chair in 2025, leading the section and developing programming for members.