De Graef recognized for achievement in microscopy

John and Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor of Engineering Marc De Graef has been selected by the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) as the 2025 recipient of the Society’s Distinguished Scientist Award in the physical sciences. The Distinguished Scientist Award has been conferred annually since 1975 to individuals in the biological and physical science fields in recognition of achievement in the field of microscopy and microanalysis. He was also recognized by MSA as a Fellow in 2009.  

“MSA is an organization that is integral to advancing innovation in microscopy,” said De Graef. “I am grateful to receive this honor and to join a group of esteemed colleagues who have previously been conferred with this award.” 

De Graef’s research focuses on modeling advanced imaging and diffraction techniques to better understand the structure and properties of materials at the atomic and nanoscale levels. He is also the Faculty Director of the Materials Characterization Facility at Carnegie Mellon.  

In addition to over 350 publications, De Graef also published two textbooks that are widely used in materials science education, Introduction to Conventional Transmission Electron Microscopy and Structure of MaterialsStructure of Materials: An Introduction to Crystallography, Diffraction and Symmetry.

The award will be conferred at the Microscopy & Microanalysis (M&M) conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in July, where De Graef will also deliver a technical presentation, “How an understanding of dynamical electron diffraction theory has led to novel electron backscatter diffraction indexing approaches.”