SME Awards Jaeheon Lee $300K to Support Tenure and Promotion

Jaeheon Lee, an associate professor in MGE, received a $300,000 Freeport-McMoRan Career Development Grant from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, or SME.

Lee, an expert in extractive metallurgy, was selected from 18 applicants after a committee review of his application and a formal interview. The grant -- $100,000 a year for three years -- is intended to provide newly employed, nontenured assistant or associate professors the support to achieve tenure and promotion.

Lee, who earned his PhD in materials science and engineering from the UA in 2003, said he was honored by the news, and is already making plans for what he’d like to do with the money.

“I can replace old equipment in my lab, some of which I used when I was a student at the UA,” he said. “Also, I can take my students to international conferences so they can experience what’s going on in industry or academia.”