Yury Gogotsi is Distinguished University Professor and Trustee Chair in the department of materials science and engineering at Drexel University. He also holds courtesy appointments in the departments of chemistry and mechanical engineering & mechanics at Drexel University, and serves as director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. He served as associate dean of the College of Engineering from 2003 to 2007. He received his M.S. (1984) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees from Kiev Polytechnic and a D.Sc. degree from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in 1995. Gogotsi has authored/co-authored two books, more than 380 peer-reviewed papers, edited 13 books and obtained more than 40 patents. His research has been recognized with a European Carbon Association Award, Chang Jiang Scholar Award from the Chinese Ministry of Education, S. Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies, G.C. Kuczynski Prize from the International Institute for the Science of Sintering, R.C. Purdy Award and several R.B. Snow Awards from the American Ceramic Society, NANOSMAT Prize, I.N. Frantsevich Prize from the Ukrainian Academy of Science, two R&D 100 Awards from R&D Magazine and two Nano 50™Awards from NASA Nanotech Briefs. He has been elected a Fellow of MRS, the American Ceramic Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), The Electrochemical Society, as well as Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics and Full Member of the International Institute for the Science of Sintering. He has been serving MRS for many years, chairing the University Chapters and Special Projects Subcommittee, advising the Drexel University MRS Student Chapter since its inception and acting on numerous occasions as symposium organizer at MRS meetings.