Gerald Frankel

Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering

Fontana Laboratories140 W 19th Ave Columbus, OH 43210-1110

(614) 688-4128

frankel.10@osu.edu

Download CV

Fontana Corrosion Center

Center for Performance and Design of Nuclear Waste Forms and Containers

Gerald Frankel Google Scholar page

Biography

Gerald S. Frankel is Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the Fontana Corrosion Center at The Ohio State University. He has been a member of the faculty at Ohio State since 1995.

Prior to joining Ohio State in 1995, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Technical Institute in Zurich, then a Research Staff Member at the IBM Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY.

Education

Sc.B. degree in Materials Science Engineering from Brown University (1978)
Sc.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT (1985)

Honors, awards, appointments

Olin Palladium Award by The Electrochemical Society for his contributions to corrosion science (2021)
member of the editorial board of The Journal of the Electrochemical Society and Corrosion
fellow of NACE International
fellow of the Electrochemical Society
fellow of ASM International
Grande Medaille du CEFRACOR Award (2019)
The Clara M. and Peter L. Scott Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education (2018)
Ohio State Mentor of the Year Award (2017)
W.R. Whitney Award from NACE International (2015)
U.R. Evans Award from the UK Institute of Corrosion (2011)
The Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award (2010)
ECS Corrosion Division H.H. Uhlig Award (2010)
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award for Senior US Scientists (2004)
served as a member of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board after being appointed by President Obama (2012-2016)
director of a DOE-funded Engineering Frontier Research Center focused on the performance of nuclear waste forms (2016)
organizer of CorroZoom, a free webinar series in corrosion science (2021)

Expertise

Primary research interests

passivation and localized corrosion of metals and alloys
corrosion inhibition
protective coatings
atmospheric corrosion

"Regardless of whether you are for or against nuclear power, and no matter what you think of nuclear weapons, the radioactive waste is already here, and we have to deal with it."

- Gerald S. Frankel in Chemical & Engineering News, March 30, 2020

Dr. Frankel was ranked in the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Elsevier in 2021.

CorroZoom

The Fontana Corrosion Center hosts a popular free webinar series related to corrosion science. A different corrosion-related topic is presented in detail by guest speakers who are renowned subject experts. The monthly webinars attract thousands of researchers, scientists, instructors, students, and members of industry from around the globe. Registration is required to attend the virtual presentations.

fcc.osu.edu/corrozoom

View a CorroZoom webinar by Prof. Frankel on his new Framework for Pitting Corrosion Based on Pit Growth Stability (recorded 9 April 2021)

Previous CorroZoom webinars can be accessed by selecting previous webinars.

Select articles in the press

As nuclear waste piles up, scientists seek the best long-term storage solutions (Chemical and Engineering News, 2020)
Self-accelerated corrosion of nuclear waste forms at material interfaces (Nature Materials, 2020)
Advanced Materials Corridor will foster innovation, learning (Ohio State, 2017)
Joining efforts to advance vehicle sustainability (Ohio State, 2016)

"It is important to understand how such fissures propagate. Stresses on an aircraft can cause fissures to turn into large cracks that could lead to disaster if they are not repaired in time. So knowing how fissure propagation depends on the material microstructure could one day allow a prediction of when preventive maintenance is needed."
- Gerald Frankel ("Brick Wall Helps Explain How Corrosion Spreads Through Alloy", 2004)

Frankel, Gerald