Apblett named Fellow for his scholarship and service

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Dr. Allen Apblett was recently named a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in recognition of his broad and productive scholarship in ceramic science and technology, as well as outstanding service to the society. Apblett, a professor of chemistry at Oklahoma State University, formally received the honor at the Material Science and Technology 2012 conference in Pittsburgh.

"I am deeply honored to be named a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society because it recognizes my success in tackling challenging and interesting chemical problems and using them as a vehicle for the education of the future leaders in my profession," said Apblett. "In receiving this award, I am joining an impressive group of people whose work is having a lasting beneficial impact not just on science and engineering but also on the world."

Professor Apblett's research targets several problems that are faced by industry and society today, and includes three key accomplishments:

He has developed methods for the safe storage of nuclear waste and heavy metals within non-leachable ceramic waste forms. These mimic rocks that have served as the natural geological repository for the radioactive and toxic metals for billions of years.

Apblett has also fashioned unique, innovative ways to produce high technology ceramics for use in electronics, medicine, water purification, homeland security, pollution prevention and remediation, and catalysis.

In addition, he has pioneered research on "one-pot" conversion of minerals to useful polymers that may one day replace petroleum-derived polymers as the world's supply of oil dwindles. Most recently, he has developed metal oxide materials that are capable of selectively removing heavy metals and arsenic from water, juice and rice syrup and can also be used to "mine" the ocean for useful metals such as uranium.

Apblett has been at OSU since 1997 and was recently promoted to professor. He has published over 105 scientific papers or book chapters and received several awards, including the ACS Environmental Division Certificate of Merit, nomination as a member of Project Kaleidoscope's Faculty for the 21st Century, a Mortar Board Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Governor General of Canada's Medal, a Lilly Endowment Teaching Fellowship and OSU's College of Arts and Science Junior Faculty Excellence in Research Award. He is also a Riata Fellow and this year's OSU Sigma Xi lecturer.

Apblett received a bachelor of science degree with honors from the University of New Brunswick in 1984 and doctorate from the University of Calgary in 1989. He was awarded a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University and became an assistant professor at Tulane University in 1991 before accepting a position at OSU.