J. Wayne Jones is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. He is also associate director of ADVANCE at the University of Michigan and director of the ADVANCE Program in the College of Engineering. ADVANCE is an NSF and University sponsored program focused on increasing the numbers of tenure-track women and under-represented minorities in the STEM disciplines. He holds a Ph.D. in materials science from Vanderbilt University

He served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the College of Engineering from 1996 to 2001 and he served as interim chair of MSE in 1992. He served as president of TMS (a 12,000 member materials society) in 1999 and has served on the boards of directors of TMS and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers. He was elected a fellow of ASM International (a 50,000 member materials society) in 2000. In 2007 he received the Harold H. Johnson Diversity Award from the University of Michigan. In 2010 he ASM International’s Alfred Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award, the societies highest honor for materials science teaching excellence. In 2011 he co-authors were awarded the Champion H. Mathewson Medal for "Microstructural Influences on Very-High-Cycle Fatigue-Crack Initiation in Ti-6246” published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, in 2008.

His research interests have focused on developing an understanding of structure-property relationships in advanced structural materials for automotive and aerospace applications. His work has centered on the fatigue and creep behavior of aluminum alloys, particulate strengthened aluminum matrix composites, titanium and titanium aluminides and more recently on new magnesium alloys. His research group is currently focusing on development of new instrumentation and techniques for studying the fatigue behavior of structural materials in the gigacycle regime using ultrasonic fatigue. His research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Department of Energy Ford Motor Company General Motors. He consults in the area of metal failure analysis.

Paulette Granberry Russell has been employed with Michigan State University since 1998 as the Senior Advisor to the President for Diversity and Director, Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.  She is responsible for facilitating efforts and collaborating with various departments and colleges to develop effective strategies to advance a diverse university environment and is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of such efforts. Ms. Granberry Russell is an integral part of the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program, Advancing Diversity through the Alignment of Policies and Practices (ADAPP) at MSU, which aims to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce through their increased representation and advancement in academic scientific and engineering careers, with particular emphasis on faculty recruitment and hiring, and faculty mentoring.