University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering
Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering

Stubbins named Willett Professor

1/18/2013 Susan Mumm

Written by Susan Mumm

Stubbins named Willett Professor

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.

James F. Stubbins
James F. Stubbins

 

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.

Stubbins earned a BS in nuclear engineering in 1970 from the University of Michigan. After earning his MS in nuclear engineering and PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Cincinnati, in 1972 and 1975, respectively, Stubbins spent one and one-half years as a guest scientist in the Materials Research Institute at the Research Center, Karlsruhe, Germany. He then spent an additional one and one-half years as a guest scientist in the Department of Science of Materials, Oxford University and with Harwell Labs in the United Kingdom.

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.

Stubbins also is active in the International Institute on Carbon Neutral Energy Research, I2CNER, which has established an University of Illinois satellite campus at the Japan World Premier Institute. The Institute is developing technology in several directions to address carbon neutral energy production distribution. As part of I2CNER's Energy Analysis Division, which assesses the economic, policy, and environmental issues associated with Japan's new energy technologies, Stubbins is helping develop a plan that will lead Japan to a carbon neutral energy portfolio.
 
Stubbins is former co-director of the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center in Multiphase Flow, and former adjunct professor of Chemical Engineering at Ohio University. A Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, Stubbins was past chair of the organization's Fusion Energy Division, the Materials Science and Technology Division, and the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization. He is the co-author of more than 100 journal articles and holds one patent.
 
In 2004, Stubbins was named International Scientist of the Year, and was elected an ANS Fellow in 2007. The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) recognized his teaching contributions by awarding him the Glenn Murphy Award in 2010. In 2011, Stubbins became the first faculty recipient of the University of Illinois campus Media Relations Award, recognizing his professional and cooperative response to the media following the March 2011 nuclear reactor disaster that arose from Japan's earthquake and tsunami. Also in 2011 Stubbins received the Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising.

NPRE now has two named professorships: David N. Ruzic was awarded a Bliss Professorship in the College of Engineering in 2011.

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This story was published January 18, 2013.