FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM International, has awarded its Committee E08 Fracture Mechanics Medal to Ashok Saxena, distinguished professor and dean of engineering at the University of Arkansas. The award is presented to individuals who have exerted a profound, positive effect on the development of the scientific discipline of fracture mechanics.

Saxena has served as dean of the College of Engineering since 2003, and was recently reappointed to another five-year term. He was the first faculty member to hold an endowed chair funded by the $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. He came to the university from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he had been the Regents’ Professor and a former chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Saxena has been a member of ASTM International since 1982, and is active on Committee E08 and its subcommittees. He has previously received the ASTM Award of Merit and its accompanying title of fellow. He earned the George R. Irwin Medal for his pioneering contributions for analyzing creep in engineering metals and also received two Awards of Appreciation for his work on developing ASTM test methods.

“I am thrilled to be chosen for this honor by my peers at ASTM International,” Saxena said. “For years this organization has been recognized internationally for its leadership in fracture mechanics. It is also humbling to be in the company of previous recipients of this award that includes some of the biggest names in the field of fracture mechanics.”

During his career Saxena did engineering and research work at the Research and Development Center at Westinghouse Electric and at the National Steel Corp. His career has focused mainly on education and research in the materials science and engineering field with a concentration on fracture mechanics, fatigue, creep and creep-fatigue behavior of structural materials. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in materials science and metallurgical engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Saxena is a member of ASME International, the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, and he is a fellow of ASM International.

ASTM International is one of the largest international standards development and delivery systems in the world. ASTM International meets the World Trade Organization principles for the development of international standards: coherence, consensus, development dimension, effectiveness, impartiality, openness, relevance and transparency. ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems and commercial transactions.