Jay Tiley, head of the Materials Structures and Processing Section in the Materials Science and Technology Division at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has received the 2026 Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division Distinguished Scientist award from The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, or TMS.
The award honors long-lasting contributions to the design, synthesis, processing and performance of engineering materials with significant industrial applications. Tiley will be recognized at the Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division/Extraction and Processing Division luncheon on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in San Diego during the 155th TMS Annual Meeting.
A proven leader in materials development, Tiley has more than 30 years of government service spanning team leadership and program execution across manufacturing and repair centers, national laboratories, universities and private industry, in close collaboration with DOE, the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation.
As section head, he oversees five ORNL groups researching welding; alloy behavior and design; surface engineering; new materials for advanced processing; and processing of metals, ceramics and composites.
He previously served as a program officer at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, overseeing the Basic Metals, Multiscale Structural Materials and Low-Density Material portfolios, and as a program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory, including leadership on the Metals Affordability Initiative.
Tiley earned a doctorate in materials science from The Ohio State University, where he studied how microstructure influences strength and ductility in titanium alloys. He also holds master's degrees in materials engineering from Ohio State, environmental management and engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and systems engineering from Wright State University. He is a fellow of ASM International and an adjunct professor at the University of North Texas, Wright State and Ohio State.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, the largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science . - Scott Gibson
