Kathleen Stair Selected for Michael Ashby Outstanding Materials Educator Award
The award honors individuals who have made distinguished, exceptional contributions and demonstrated notable leadership in the field of materials science and engineering education.
Northwestern Engineering’s Kathleen Stair has been selected to receive the 2026 Michael Ashby Outstanding Materials Educator Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Materials Division.
“Professor Ashby has had a profound influence on the field, and I am very honored to receive this eponymous award,” Stair said. “I am also very grateful for the opportunities I have had to work with our talented students and to collaborate with generous faculty colleagues.”
Stair, professor of instruction and assistant chair of the McCormick School of Engineering’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was recognized for her exceptional contributions to materials education and lasting impact on students; equipping them not only with technical knowledge but also with the ability to think and communicate like practicing engineers—skills they consistently cite as among the most valuable in their academic and professional success.
A professor of instruction since 2016, Stair was named the MSE department’s teacher of the year in 2002 and 2005, a Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Lecturer in 2003, and was awarded the Cole-Higgins Award for Excellence in Advising in 2019. She has served as the education and outreach director for Northwestern’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) since 2013.
“For nearly 30 years, Kathleen Stair has been a cornerstone of the department, teaching and mentoring hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, leading our undergraduate educational initiatives, and serving as the principal organizer of public outreach for the department and the center,” said Mark Hersam, Walter P. Murphy Professor and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering, and director of MRSEC. “I can say with complete confidence that no one in our department has positively shaped the student experience more than Kathleen, and I can think of no one more deserving of the Michael Ashby Outstanding Materials Educator Award.”
The ASEE is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology. The ASEE develops policies and programs that enhance professional opportunities for engineering faculty members and promotes activities that support increased student enrollments in engineering and engineering technology colleges and universities.