Finishing & Coating magazine recently profiled AAC member Dr. Jude Runge on the occasion of her receiving the National Association of Surface Finishing’s Scientific Achievement Award. What follows is an excerpt of the article. To read the full article, visit finishingandcoating.com.
Dr. Jude Mary Runge’s career as a metallurgical engineer and surface finishing expert spans almost 40 years in industrial, government, and academic, professional settings.
She most recently received the National Association for Surface Finishing’s Scientific Achievement Award, which recognizes a person who has contributed to the advancement of the theory and practice of electroplating, metal finishing and the allied arts; raised the quality of processes and products; enhanced the status of the profession; or been involved in a combination of the above.
Dr. Runge is well known for her work in anodizing that led to a new theoretical treatment for porous oxide formation. She received her Ph.D. in metallurgy at the University of Illinois at Chicago under Dr. Michael McNallan. A tireless educator, Dr. Runge has authored numerous papers and given seminars worldwide and has been the Education Chair for the Aluminum Anodizers Council since 2008. Her book, The Metallurgy of Anodizing Aluminum, published by Springer Nature in 2018, is one of her biggest personal achievements.
Dr. Runge is the third of nine children and the first in her family to attend college. She is the mother of four and grandmother of eight. She believes her success is the result of great personal grit and passion for science, which enabled her hard work and, very often, hard decisions. She owes a great deal of her career to her mother, who continuously challenged and supported her. She is grateful to her husband, Thomas Nussbaum, for his love and support and for always admitting how proud he is of her.
