Professor John Lannutti presented with Outstanding Teaching in Materials Science Award
The Mars G. Fontana Award for Outstanding Teaching in Materials Science and Engineering is presented each year to the professor who embodies the character and commitment of the late Mars G. Fontana, professor and Chairperson of what used to be the Department of Metallurgical Engineering. MSE students vote on their professor of choice.
Professor John Lannutti was voted this year's recipient and was presented the award by Kavya Raghuraman, President of the MSE Club/Materials Advantage. Lannutti is a 30-year veteran of the department, having served since 1990. His passion for materials science and engineering is evident both in the classroom and beyond, and he identifies entropy as his favorite subject to teach (MSE 5641); "It predicts quite a lot of the processing, properties and behavior of plastics.".
My favorite thing about being a professor is the opportunity to work with students and help them grasp abstract, difficult concepts.
One of Lannutti's favorite professors when he was a student is Larry Hench at the University of Florida (OSU BS ’61, PhD ’64), "Hench's detailed description of the invention of bioglass was fascinating to me because it was an example of how technology transfer actually works in the real world." Professor Hench's lessons about the creation of bioglass and how it was eventually commercialized was especially influential in the young scholar's commitment to materials science.
Professor John Lannutti joins a long list of excellent materials science and engineering professors at Ohio State who have won this award previously. Professor Perena Gouma was the 2019 recipient of the Mars G. Fontana Outstanding Teaching in Materials Science Award.
