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McCormick Teacher and Adviser of the Year Named

Matthew Grayson, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was recently named McCormick Teacher of the Year, while John Rudnicki, professor of civil and environmental engineering, was named McCormick Adviser of the Year.

Students nominated professors for the honor, and winners were chosen by a committee.

Grayson's nominators called him a "wonderful instructor" who pushes students to consider the material beyond the problem on the page. The nominations also praised Grayson for his willingness to take the time to explain difficult concepts and his dedication to his lab.

"Professor Grayson expects a lot of his students, but in turn he is just as dedicated to our learning as we are, if not more," says one nomination.

In addition to being a great professor, Rudnicki's "welcoming personality" leads to "extraordinary consulting both for course selection and career development," said one nomination.

"Each quarter I have the pleasure of discussing my current study plan and future curriculum goals," says one nominator. "He is always prepared for this meeting with interesting course suggestions and wise advice about courses which will help me achieve my career goals."

Grayson joined Northwestern in March 2007. He received his PhD from Princeton University and received a Humboldt Fellowship for post-doctoral research at the Technical University of Munich, which continued to a faculty position. In between he briefly worked at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. His research interests include quantum Hall effect, high-temperature superconductors, infrared Hall angle spectroscopy, tunnel spectroscopy, and one-dimensional physics. He has developed various growth techniques for III-V semiconductors, including corner overgrowth and Si-doped p-type (110) high mobility GaAs. He has served on program committees for the American Physical Society meeting and the Electronic Properties of Two Dimensional Electron Systems.

Rudnicki joined Northwestern in 1981 after earning a PhD from Brown University and serving as a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology and an assistant professor at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include inelastic behavior and failure of solids, especially geomaterials and the coupling of deformation with pore fluid diffusion. Applications include deformation of the Earth's crust, mechanics of earthquakes, hydrocarbon recovery, and sequestration of carbon dioxide. More specifically, he is interested in the mechanics of earthquake faulting, the coupling of deformation and diffusion in the earth's crust, and constitutive models for rocks, especially in relation to the analyses for the development of localized deformation.