John Balk, William T. Bryan Professor of Materials Engineering and associate dean for research and graduate studies, has established an outstanding record of research productivity, quality and impact that places him amongst our most distinguished faculty in the College of Engineering. Balk’s research focus is the elucidation of structure-property relationships in the behavior of metals, alloys and covalent materials, with current projects related to size effects and mechanical behavior, high-entropy alloys, and functional properties of thermionic dispenser cathodes. Balk has served as chair for the Gordon Research Conference on Thin Film and Small-Scale Mechanical Behavior, and in 2015 was elected one of five national co-chairs for the fall meeting of the Materials Research Society, the largest professional organization for materials scientists and engineers.