Dr. Michael Mills awarded Germany's highest distinction for contributions to materials science and engineering, promoting scientific relations between countries

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Michael Mills Ohio State Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Dr. Michael Mills, Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and McDougal professor, has received Germany's most prestigious award in the field of materials science and engineering. 

The German Materials Society (DGM: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde) selected Dr. Mills to be the 2021 recipient of the Heyn Denkmünze (Heyn Memorial Medal) for his scientific contributions to the materials science and engineering field along with his significant efforts to advance scientific relations between the United States and Germany.

Emil Heyn, the medal's namesake, is regarded as the founder of microscopy methods specific to metals and alloys. A researcher, scientist and instructor, Heyn was a pioneer in metallography and materials science in Germany at the turn of the 19th century. Modern day microscopy is rooted in the examination methods and subsequent discoveries among metals and alloys at the hands of Emil Heyn and his mentor, Adolf Martens.1

photo of Emil Heyn, German materials science engineer 1919
Emil Heyn, 1919

Mills was nominated by fellow materials scientists and educators, Prof. Dr.-Ing Gunther Eggeler (chair of Materials Science and Engineering, Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Prof. i. R. Dr. Hael Mughrabi (Professor Emeritus, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität of Erlangen Nürnberg)  and Prof. Dr. Carolin Koerner (chair of Materials Science and Engineering for Metals, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität).

"I am so proud to receive this award, and I am humbled to be listed with illustrious past winners of the Heyn Memorial Medal. To have been nominated and approved for this honor by my German colleagues, whom I so respect, truly makes this award very special for me."
 - Dr. Michael Mills, 2021 Heyn Memorial Medal recipient

Dr. Mills will be awarded the Heyn Memorial Medal at a formal presentation during the annual DGM-Day in September.

 

Previous recipients of the Heyn Memorial Medal

2020 Prof. Dr. Gunther Eggeler

2019 Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rödel 

2018 Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Christ

2017 Prof. Dr. Eduard Arzt

2016 Prof. Dr. Peter Greil

2015 Prof. Dr. Berhard Wielage

2014 Prof. Dr. Marc André Meyers & Prof. Dr. Lorenz Singheiser

2013 Prof. Dietmar Eifler

2012 Prof. Dr. Horst Hahn

2011 Prof Willilam D. Nix & Prof. Dr.-Ing. Berthold Scholtes

2010 Prof. Dr. Robert F. Singer 

2009 Prof. Dr.  Horst Vehoff

2008 Prof Dr. H. Peter Degischer

2007 Prof. Dr. Richard Wagner

2006 Prof. Dr. Ludwig Schultz

2005 Prof. Dr. Gernot Kostorz & Prof. Frans Spaepen

2004 Prof. Dr. Ali S. Argon & Prof. Dr. Reiner Kirchheim

2003 Prof. Dr. Michael Ashby & Prof. Dr. Günter Gottstein

2002 Prof. P. B. Hirsch & Prof. Dr. Wilfried Kurz

2001 Prof. Dr. J. W. Cahn & Prof. Dr. Peter Neumann

2000 Prof. Dr. Hael Mughrabi

1999 Prof. Dr. Manfred Rühle & Prof. Dr. Knut Urban

1998 Prof. Dr. Herbert Gleiter

1997 Prof. Dr. Heinrich Mecking & Prof. Dr. Werner Schatt

1996 Prof. Dr. Robert W. Cahn

1995 Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ilschner

1994 Dr. Wolfgang Dürrschnabel & Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Heubner

1993 Prof. Dr. Hermann Schmalzried

1992 Prof. Dr. Helmut Kronmüller

1991 Prof. Dr. Erhard Hornbogen

1990 Prof. Dr. Hellmut Fischmeister

1989 Prof. Dr. Hans Warlimont

1988 Prof. Dr. Dr. Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf

1987 Prof. Dr. H. Nowotny

1986 Prof. Dr. Egon Orowan

1985 Prof. Dr. Dr.-Ing. E.h. mult. Eckard Macherauch

1984 Prof. Dr. Günter Petzow

1983 Prof. Dr. Alfred Seeger

1982 Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Engell

1981 Prof. Dr. Pol E. Duwez

1980 Prof. Dr. Theodor Heumann

1979 Prof. Dr. Paul A. Beck

1978 Prof. Dr. Uichi Hashimoto

1977 Prof. Dr. Ernst Raub

1976 Prof. Dr. Peter Haasen † & Prof. Dr. Kurt Lücke

1975 Dr. Friedrich Benesovsky † & Prof. Dr. Richard Kieffer

1974 Prof. Dr. Albert Kochendörfer

1973 Prof. Dr. G. W. Kurdjumow

1972 Prof. Dr. Carl Wagner

1971 Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Erich Gebhardt

1968 Prof. Dr. Franz Wever

1966 Prof. Dr. Ch. S.. Barrett

1965 Prof. Dr. Günther Wassermann

1964 Prof. Dr. Ulrich Dehlinger

1963 Prof. Dr. Max Hansen

1962 Prof. Dr. Paul Lacombe

1960 Prof. Dr. William G. Burgers

1957 Prof. Dr. Georg Sachs † & Prof. Dr. Erich Schmid

1956 Prof. Dr. G. V. Raynor

1955 Dr. W. J. Kroll

1953 Prof. Dr. Otto Dahl

1952 Prof. Dr. Dr. E.h. Werner Köster

1949 Prof. Dr. H. Hanemann

1941 Dr. Fritz Heusler

1938 Prof. Dr. Dr. E.h. Georg Masing

1931 Prof. Dr. E.h. Oswald Bauer

1929 Prof. Dr. Gustav Tammann

 

 

The Heyn Commemorative Medal

photo of Heyn Memorial Award

"The Heyn Commemorative Medal is the highest award of the DGM. Named after the first DGM chairman Emil Heyn, it is awarded for those achievements in the field of materials science and engineering that have enabled significant progress in scientific, technological, or economic terms. As with the other prizes it awards, the DGM also wants to draw attention to excellent developments in the field with the Heyn Commemorative Medal. In particular, the Heyn Commemorative Medal can be used to honour the life's work of an outstanding personality."2

1 Emil Heyn. https://second.wiki/wiki/emil_heyn. Accessed April 27, 2021.

2 The Heyn Commemorative Medal. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde. https://dgm.de/en/about-dgm/honours-and-awards/the-heyn-commemorative-m…. Accessed April 26, 2021.

 

By Libby Culley, Communications   |   Department of Materials Science and Engineering   |   culley.36@osu.edu