Lehigh University

Dr. Walter L. Brown has been an Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University since 2002, working primarily on the mechanical properties of thin metal films with emphasis on the time dependence of the effective modulus, i.e. anelasticity, in response to sudden changes in stress or strain. He received a PhD in Physics from Harvard Univer-sity in 1951. He then worked at Bell Laboratories for more than 50 years before retiring from the position of Director of Physical Sciences Research. The last of his long list of achievements is to improve the performance and reliability of 16x16 cross-point MEMS optical switches. He is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.