Dr. Wayne Huebner has been named chair of the materials science and engineering department at the University of Missouri-Rolla, effective with the start of the current semester. 

Huebner was most recently UMR’s vice provost for research for the past four years. Under Huebner’s leadership, UMR’s office of sponsored programs more than doubled its amount of funding for research projects. The office helped gain more than $35 million in external research funding for the university in 2005. 

Huebner takes over as chair of the materials science and engineering department from Dr. Richard Brow, who served as chair of the department from January of 2000 through December of 2006. Brow remains on the UMR faculty as Curators’ Professor of ceramic engineering. 

This is Huebner’s second stint as a department chair. He previously served as chair of UMR’s ceramic engineering department from 1997-1999. Also, Huebner previously served as a senior investigator at UMR’s Materials Research Center 

Huebner hosts TechnoFiles, a public radio program about UMR research, on KUMR 88.5 FM in Rolla. He has received UMR’s Faculty Excellence Award five times, the Outstanding Teaching Award four times, and he was named the Outstanding Faculty Member in ceramic engineering five consecutive years. In 1994, he received the Karl Schwartzwalder Professional Achievement in Ceramic Engineering Award, given to the nation’s outstanding young ceramic engineer. 

Huebner earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering and a Ph.D. in ceramic engineering at UMR in 1982 and 1987, respectively. He joined the UMR faculty in 1987.