NPRE Department Head James F. Stubbins has been named a Donald Biggar Willett Professor in the College of Engineering at Illinois.
Stubbins joined NPRE in 1980, served as associate head from 1991 to 1998, and became Department Head in 1999.
His primary research interests are in the area of materials performance and development for advanced energy systems, including the influence of radiation effects, liquid metal corrosion, high temperature gaseous corrosion, moderate and elevated temperature materials mechanical properties, and microstructural-level examination of materials using advanced electron-optical techniques.
He later became principal investigator for the Very High Temperature Reactor Materials Program at General Electric in the U.S. Since joining the Illinois faculty in 1980, Stubbins has held a number of visiting scientist positions at Argonne National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In addition, he also has held a long-term visiting scientist position with the Danish national research laboratory, Risø National Laboratory, and has a continuing appointment with the Department of Mechanical, Nuclear, and Production Engineering at the University of Pisa, Italy.
NPRE now has two named professorships: David N. Ruzic was awarded a Bliss Professorship in the College of Engineering in 2011.