Mufit Akinc, a professor of materials science and engineering, has been appointed to a four-year position as the chairman of Iowa State’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Akinc has served as a member of the department since 1981, and as interim chairman since September of 1995.

“The responsibilities of the job [are] to make sure that the department runs smoothly, to make sure the teaching activities are taken care of and are done in the best possible way, to make sure that the younger faculty is mentored properly, and to coordinate the research efforts in the department, as well as advise students,” Akinc said.

Akinc’s appointment is effective Jan. 1, 1997.

He has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses on ceramic materials and processing. Akinc has also conducted research in the areas of processing of composite materials and intermetallics, solid-liquid and solid-gas interactions in ceramic systems.

Akinc is a senior ceramic engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory on campus.

“We are pleased that Dr. Akinc will be a continuing member of the college’s leadership team because his contributions to the department, college and university have already been substantial,” said Dean James Melsa of the College of Engineering.

Akinc earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry in the early 1970s from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. He earned a doctorate in ceramic engineering from Iowa State in 1977.

Prior to coming to ISU, Akinc was a faculty member at Kansas State University from 1977-79. He served as department chairman and assistant professor of applied chemistry at METU from 1979-81. Akinc then returned to ISU as assistant professor of materials science and engineering and an associate ceramic engineer at Ames Laboratory.

Akinc has been a consultant to the United Nations and to several companies. In 1996, Akinc was named a fellow in the American Ceramic Society.

Akinc has also written or co-written 120 technical articles and has given more than 60 presentations throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. He is co-holder of five patents.