Transactions of the Materials Research Society of Japan 36[1] 1(2011)

Obituary: Professor Rustum Roy July 1924~August 2010

Shigeyuki Somiya and Yasuro Ikuma

Professor Rustum Roy, 86, passed away on August 26, 2010 at State College, Pennsylvania, U. S. A. He was born in Ranchi, Bihar Province, . In 1942 he received B. Sc. in Physical Chemistry from Patna University and 1944 M. Sc. from the same university. He went to U. S. A. in 1945. He earned a Ph. D. in ceramics at Pennsylvania State University in 1948 and became American citizen in 1961.

In 1951, he was appointed to Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University. In 1957 he was promoted to professor and in 1981 he was appointed to Evan Pugh Professor, the highest professor position in Pennsylvania State University. He held a Distinguished Professor of Materials at and a Visiting Professor of Medicine at the , as well as an emeritus position at Pennsylvania State University.

Professor Roy authored more than seven hundreds of scientific papers in the field of geochemistry, ceramics, and , which include crystal chemistry of oxides, equilibrium phase diagram, hydrothermal processing, microwave technology, sol-gel processing, diamond films, etc. In order to solve many complicated problems he realized the importance of bringing many researchers from many different fields together. He was appointed as the first director of an independent interdisciplinary Materials Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University in 1962, and served the position for 23 years. He then worked very hard to have Committee on the preparation for Materials Research Society. In 1973 he co-founded the pioneering interdisciplinary scientific society the Materials Research Society (MRS) and continued to advance the boundaries of science and technology up to the present.

The idea of MRS expanded into other countries. Materials Research Society of Japan established in 1989 is one of these MRSs. In 1991 International Union of Materials Research Society (IUMRS) was established. It is currently very active union in the field of materials.

He was Honorary Member of Ceramic Society of Japan, Foreign Member of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Honorary Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Foreign Associate of Engineering Academy of Japan and many others. He received Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in 2002 from Emperor of Japan and Commendation for Meritorious Service in the Field of International Exchange in 2000 from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

We would like to offer our deepest condolences on passing away of Professor Rustum Roy.

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