George W. Scherer was born in 1949 in Teaneck, New Jersey. In 1971, he married Martha Ann (Marty). George received his BS and MS degrees in 1972 and his PhD in materials science in 1974, all from MIT, where his thesis work was on crystal growth in glass. From 1974 to 1985, he was at Corning Glass Works, where his research included optical fiber fabrication, viscous sintering, and viscoelastic stress analysis. The latter work was the subject of his first book, Relaxation in Glass and Composites (Wiley, 1986). From 1985 through 1995, he was a member of the Central Research Department of the DuPont Company, where his work dealt principally with sol-gel processing, and especially with drying. In collaboration with Jeff Brinker of Sandia National Labs, he wrote a book entitled Sol-Gel Science (Academic Press, 1990).
He is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and a member of the Materials Research Society. In 1997 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
In February, 1996, he became a full professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, and a member of the Princeton Materials Institute (now, PRISM). His research involves mechanisms of deterioration of concrete and stone, particularly by crystallization of ice and salts in the pores. He retired in the spring term of 2017, becoming an Emeritus Professor in June, 2017.
Teaching Awards
Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2001 and 2003
School of Eng. & Applied Science Distinguished Teacher Award, 2002
Professional Honors & Awards
1985 G. W. Morey Award, Glass Division of American Ceramic Society
1986 Woldemar Weyl Award, International Congress on Glass
1986 Ross Coffin Purdy Award, American Ceramic Society
1987 Elected Fellow of American Ceramic Society
1987 W.H. Zachariasen Award, Editorial Board, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids
1990 Fulrath Pacific Award, Univ. California at Berkeley and American Ceramic Society
1992 Best Paper in Drying in 1990-1991 [for Theory of Drying, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 73 [1] (1990) 3-14)],
presented at Int. Drying Symposium
1994 Robert Sosman Award, American Ceramic Society
1995 Ralph K. Iler Award, American Chemical Society
1997 Elected to the National Academy of Engineering
2001 Brunauer Award presented by Cements Division, American Ceramic Society
2002 Brunauer Award presented by Cements Division, American Ceramic Society
2003 Cohen Memorial Distinguished Lectures Series, Northwestern University
2005 Awarded the William L. Knapp ’47 Chair Civil Engineering
2006 ISI Highly Cited Author (A0378-2006-C)
2007 Rosenquist Lecturer, Univ. Oslo, Norway
2007 Brunauer Award presented by Cements Division, Am. Ceram. Soc.
2008 Della Roy Lecture presented by Cements Division, Am. Ceram. Soc.
Visiting Scientist/Professor
1983 Visiting Professor at M.I.T., Fall term
1989 Invited Professor at Univ. Montpellier II, France, Spring 1989
1993 Visiting Scientist, Univ. Claude Bernard, Lyon, France, 4-9/93
2000 Visiting Professor, University of Dijon, France, Spring, 2000
2003 Visiting Professor, École Polytech. Fédérale Lausanne, Switzerland, 7-9/03
2010 Shimizu Visiting Professorship, Stanford University, 9-12/2010
2011 Lars Onsager Visiting Professorship, National Technical University, Trondheim , Norway
2017 Senior Visiting Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Bologna, Italy