Delbert E. Day is Curators’ Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering and Senior Investigator (formerly Director) of the Graduate Center for Materials Research at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla) During his career, he has published more than 380 technical papers dealing with the structure, properties, and uses of glass, edited three books and been granted 53 US and foreign patents. His patents include glass microspheres for medical (radiation therapy) and dental applications, bioactive glasses for wound and bone repair, chemically durable glasses for vitrifying nuclear waste, optically transparent composites, and high temperature ceramics. . He conducted the first US glass melting experiments in micro-gravity on NASA’s Space Shuttle and is co-inventor of special purpose glass microspheres, TheraSphereTM, which are now being used at more than 110 sites worldwide to treat patients with inoperable liver cancer. He is a co-inventor of “Glasphalt”, which recycles waste glass by using it as part of the aggregate in asphalt paving.
His numerous honors and awards include election to the National Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Life Member (and past president) of the American Ceramic Society, The Presidential Award for Research and Creativity and the Presidential Citation for Alumni Service Award (University of Missouri), selection as the Nation’s Outstanding Young Ceramic Engineer (Pace Award) by the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, the Hosler Alumni Scholar Medal for Scientific Achievement (Pennsylvania State University), the Chancellor’s Medal and Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, (University of Missouri-Rolla/Missouri S&T), and the Outstanding Educator Award from the American Ceramic Society. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, the Society of Glass Technology (United Kingdom), and the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers. In 2009, he received the Toledo Glass & Ceramics award for his Achievements in Education and Industry and in 2010 he was awarded the Phoenix Award and named Glass Person of the Year for his technical achievements and contributions to the glass industry. In 2011 he received the Stookey Lecture of Discovery Award (American Ceramic Soc) which recognizes innovative work in developing new materials of significant commercial impact.
