John Russ

Biography

John Russ is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Technology, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University.

In his fifty-year career as scientist and educator, Russ has used image processing and analysis as a principal tool for understanding and characterizing the structure and function of materials. Images from a wide variety of devices – including light and electron microscopes, x-ray and neutron tomography, and more – require computer processing and measurement to extract the important data. Much of his research work has been concerned with the microstructure and surface topography of metals and ceramics. He has received funding for his research and teaching from government agencies and from industry.

Familiarity with the algorithms and instruments led to Dr. Russ’ expertise being extended to a much broader range of images, from astronomy to biomedical research to food science to forensics. In addition to students in NCSU’s College of Engineering, Russ has been on graduate student committees or collaborated with faculty in textiles, pulp and paper products,veterinary medicine, microbiology, food science, and archaeology, among others. Teaching the principles and methods involved to several thousand students, and consulting for many industrial clients, has further broadened Dr. Russ’ experience and the scope of applications for image processing and analysis. He is the author of several hundred papers and more than a dozen books.

Before coming to N. C. State University in 1978, Russ was Senior Vice President of EDAX International, a manufacturer of scientific instruments. After retirement, Dr. Russ was Research Director for Rank Taylor Hobson, a manufacturer of precision instrumentation. He continues to write, to consult for a variety of companies, to provide expert testimony in criminal and civil cases, to teach workshops worldwide on image processing and analysis, and to review publications and funding proposals. He is active in a number of professional societies, and has presented frequent invited lectures and workshops for them. On November 16, 2006, the New York Microscopical Society awarded John Russ the Ernst Abbe Memorial Award for his contributions to the field of microscopy as a developer of computer-assisted microscopy and image analysis.

Books