Washington, D.C.—Carnegie’s Russell Hemley, director of the institution’s Geophysical Laboratory, was elected Honoris Causa Professor for Energetics, Mechanics, Machinery, and Control Systems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). The academy is the leading scientific body in Russia. It was founded in 1724 making it one of the oldest such organizations in the world. The degree is awarded to the most eminent foreign scientists. Hemley will receive his diploma, signed by the president of the academy, in recognition of his exceptional scientific work at an upcoming ceremony.
Hemley is a world-renowned high-pressure scientist. He investigates matter under intense pressures and temperatures and has uncovered many new finding about the nature of materials under these extreme conditions . Along the way he has also created entirely new materials and has shed light on planetary interiors. As part of his research, Hemley and his team have also developed new techniques and instrumentation, which are now used worldwide.
“Russell Hemley and his team have proven time and time again that they are at the forefront of high pressure, high temperature research,” stated Carnegie president Richard Meserve. “I am very proud of Rus for this well-deserved honor. He exemplifies Andrew Carnegie’s mission of supporting exceptional individuals.”
Hemley joined the Geophysical Laboratory as a Carnegie fellow in 1984 and became a research associate in 1986. In 1987 he joined the scientific staff and became Director of the department in 2007. Hemley has published over 490 scientific papers.
Hemley was a visiting professor at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Lyon, France, and at The Johns Hopkins University. He is the recipient of the 2005 Balzan Prize in mineral physics, the 2003 Hillebrand Medal of the American Chemical Society, and the 1990 Mineralogical Society of America Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Physical Society, the Mineralogical Society of America, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and now a professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Hemley studied chemistry and philosophy at Wesleyan University, obtaining his B.A. in 1977. He went on to Harvard for graduate studies in physical chemistry and received his Ph.D. in 1983.