2026 Fellow Award Recipients
We are thrilled to announce that the 2026 SAS Fellow Award Recipients have been selected. The Fellows award was established to recognize individual members for their outstanding achievements in and contributions to the science, the profession, and the Society. Please join us in congratulating our 2026 Fellow Recipients.
Benjamin T Manard, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Benjamin T. Manard is a Senior Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he leads the Chemical and Isotopic Mass Spectrometry Group. An internationally recognized leader in atomic spectrometry and analytical chemistry, he advances the development and application of cutting-edge mass spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques for nuclear materials analysis. His research addresses complex challenges spanning national security, energy security, environmental stewardship, and the biological sciences.
Manard has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and is widely regarded for strengthening the role of atomic spectrometry in radiochemical science and nuclear materials characterization. He serves as Editor of Applied Spectroscopy, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, and serves as Vice-President of the International Atomic Spectrometry Association, reflecting his leadership and service to the international analytical chemistry community.
His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Spectroscopy Magazine Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy Award, the Society for Applied Spectroscopy Lester Strock Award, the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectroscopy Emerging Investigator Lectureship, inclusion on The Analytical Scientist Power List: Top 40 Under 40, and the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor Award.
Carol Korzeniewski, Texas Tech University
Carol Korzeniewski is a Professor of Chemistry at Texas Tech University. Her research focuses on applications of infrared and Raman spectroscopy with emphasis on supporting advances in electrochemistry and the study of liquid-solid interfaces. Practical areas of interest include electrocatalysis, polymer membrane and thin film characterization and in-situ method development. Her laboratory has expertise in understanding the vibrational coupling effects that complicate the quantitative interpretation of infrared reflectance spectra recorded from molecular adlayers on electrode surfaces that have a mixture of structural sites (high index single crystal planes and nanoscale catalysts), or different types of metal sites (alloys and surface-modified materials). Her group has extended infrared spectroscopy to studies of ion-conductive membranes with interest in materials that serve as anode/cathode separation media in electrochemical cells and as protective, analyte-selective coatings on chemical sensors. Confocal Raman microscopy is a recent addition, where the confocal probe volume serves as a fixed volume reservoir for detecting changes in material composition and membrane matrix expansion/contraction. She received B.S. (Oakland University) and Ph.D. (University of Utah) degrees in Chemistry and did postdoctoral research at the University of Texas working in the field of surface chemistry with emphasis on surface sensitive optical measurements.
C Derrick Quarles Jr, Elemental Scientific, Inc.
C Derrick Quarles Jr is a Senior Scientist and Product Manager at Elemental Scientific, Inc. His research focuses across a broad range of areas including elemental speciation, clinical applications, single particle- and single cell-ICPMS, LA-ICPMS, and LIBS. He received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Clemson University under the supervision of Prof Ken Marcus and Bachelor of Science from Augusta University. He spent time as a guest researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. After completing his Ph.D., he was a postdoc for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology Branch. He has 60+ peer-reviewed publications, is an associate editor for Applied Spectroscopy Practica, and serves on the advisory board for the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (JAAS). He has been the Atomic Section chair for SciX since 2019 and is the President/Founder of the International Atomic Spectrometry Association (IASA) that was created in 2024 which host and organizes the US Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry.
Suresh Kumar Kailasa, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Surat
Suresh Kumar Kailasa, FRSC, is a Professor & the Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Surat, Gujrat, India. He obtained Master of Science in Chemistry of Natural Products from Sri Krishnadeveraya University, Andhra Pradesh, India and PhD in Chemistry from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. He completed two Postdoctoral Fellowships at Chonbuk University, South Korea and at National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan. He received Young Scientist Award from Taiwan Mass Spectrometry Society in 2013. He worked as a Visiting Scientist at Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan. He was Visiting Research Professor, Research Professor and Biranpool Scientist at Department of Chemistry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea. He was selected as a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, UK and Fellow of the Society of Pesticide Science India in 2019. He was also selected as a life member of the National Academy of Sciences, India. He acted as Guest Editor in the special issues in Applied Sciences, Materials Today Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry Communications and Environmental Science and Pollution Research. He is acting as an Advisory Board Member in Sensors and Diagnostics (RSC Publications) and Applied Spectroscopy Practica. He is the author of 303 peer-reviewed papers and written 06 edited books in nanomaterials and spectroscopy. He has a h-index of 68 and accumulated over 15780 citations. Kailasa’s research focuses on the design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials and their integration with spectroscopic techniques for chemical analysis. His research interest in the field of analytical chemistry, MALDI-MS, ESI-MS, microextraction, nanosensors, drug delivery, functional nanomaterials for the development of new analytical strategies.
Prof Siva Umapathy, Indian Institute of Science
Prof Siva Umapathy has been a Professor of the Department of Inorganic & Physical chemistry and the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, from 1990 – 2024, and now continues as a Honorary Professor. He has also been an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham from 2010 to 2022. Umapathy is one of the early demonstrators of the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques in complex Raman spectral data analyses with particular emphasis towards biomedical diagnosis. Umapathy was the editor of Spectrochimica Acta. A., from 2014 to 2024. He has also been on the editorial boards of numerous high impact journals, such as, Faraday Discussions, Chemical Physics, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, Journal of Bio-photonics, Nature Scientific Reports, and Frontiers of Physics. Umapathy has over 200 publications in reputed journals and several book chapters to his credit. In India, he has been recognized with the election of membership to Indian Academy of Science, National Academy of Science in India, and Indian National Science Academy. He has also received the highest scientific honour from the Prime Minister of India, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, in addition to many other national and international awards.
