Dr. Marc De Graef

Professor

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Biography

Marc De Graef is a John Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, in 1983, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, in 1989, focusing on copper-based shape memory alloys. Following his doctoral studies, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Materials Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before joining Carnegie Mellon University in 1993 as an assistant professor. He is now a full professor and serves as the Faculty Director of the Materials Characterization Facility. Throughout his career, De Graef has received numerous awards including the George T. Ladd Research Award from Carnegie Mellon and Fellow designations from the Microscopy Society of America and the Materials Research Society. He has contributed significantly to the field of materials science, particularly in microscopy and materials characterization, and has developed software that aids materials scientists in creating orientation maps of low-quality materials.

Research Interests

Experience

John Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor

2023-01-01 — Present

Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA

Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, focusing on materials characterization.

Professor

1993-01-01 — Present

Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA

Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, involved in teaching and research.

Postdoctoral Researcher

1989-01-01 — 1993-01-01

University of California, Santa Barbara • Santa Barbara, CA

Worked on materials-related research.

Awards

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John Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor

2023-01-01
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George T. Ladd Research Award

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Fellow, Microscopy Society of America

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TMS Educator Award

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Fellow, TMS

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Distinguished Scientist Award, Microscopy Society of America

2025-01-01

Requirements for Carnegie Mellon University

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.5
GRE General
Verbal
Required:158
Quantitative
Required:149
Analytical Writing
Required:4
Overall
Required:4
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Psychology or related field Research experience/publications
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Transcripts
  • GRE scores (optional but reported in profile)
  • English Proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo)
Specialization Notes

Admission is extremely competitive with no strict GPA cut-offs; holistic review is used.