January 31, 2023
By Steven Gagliano

Samuel Graham, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been named an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow for 2022. Graham, along with Georgia Tech professors Marion Usselman and Loren Williams, have joined the ranks among the nation’s most distinguished leaders in science, engineering, and innovation.

The world’s largest general scientific society, AAAS has been awarding the honor since 1874. With the addition of Usselman, Williams, and Graham, nearly 100 Georgia Tech professors have been recognized for their achievements. In total, the AAAS Class of 2022 features 506 individuals following in the footsteps of past honorees including sociologist and civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, astronaut Ellen Ochoa, Nobel laureate Steven Chu, and computer programming pioneer Grace Hopper. 

Samuel Graham, Jr. – Engineering

Honored for developing optical/electrical methods and models to characterize thermal response/properties of wide bandgap electronics including RF and power electronics and for developing chip-embedded cooling for high heat flux operation.

Graham is being recognized for his cutting-edge research into the thermal characterization and thermal management of gallium nitride-based wide bandgap semiconductors used in radio frequency communications, solid-state lighting, and power electronics. His work has been instrumental in numerous Department of Defense and industrial programs in the development of these technologies, and he was recently recognized with the 2022 ASME Allan Kraus Thermal Management Medal and the 2022 Hawkins Memorial Lecture in Heat Transfer at Purdue University.  

Graham served as the Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair for the Woodruff School at Georgia Tech, where he remains a professor, while also serving as dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tech, a place that allowed him to fulfill his childhood dream.

“I am honored to be recognized as a fellow of AAAS. Moreover, I am thankful for my students and collaborators throughout my career that have made my work enjoyable and have inspired me to make an impact on technologies that will benefit society. I wish to say thank you to AAAS and am happy to support its mission to advance science for the benefit of all,” he said.

Graham also serves on several advisory boards to advance science and engineering. This includes serving as chair of the Emerging Technologies Technical Advisory Committee in the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Engineering Science Research Foundation of Sandia National Laboratories, the AT SCALE initiative at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations.

Content is taken from the original story posted by Institute Communications.