The award - the highest presented by TMS to its members - is given to persons who have made outstanding contributions to the practice of metallurgy or materials science and technology.
Hecker, who came to Los Alamos as a graduate student in 1965 to study and conduct research in metallurgy and has been Laboratory director since 1986, will be honored at the society's awards dinner next February in San Antonio, Texas.
Hecker joins four others in being selected as 1998 Fellows of TMS. Also named as 1998 TMS Fellows were Ryoichi Kikuchi of the University of California, Los Angeles; Richard Arsenault of the University of Maryland; James Williams of G.E. Aircraft Engines; and Ye T. Chou of Lehigh University.
"This is probably the most sought recognition a metallurgist can obtain and the most distinctive honor," said Mike Stevens of Los Alamos' Center for Materials Science. Stevens collaborated with Don Parkin, also of the Center for Materials Science, on the nomination package for Hecker.
The number of TMS fellows is limited to 100 at any given time among its 12,000 members worldwide. Hecker is the fourth Los Alamos employee to be selected as a TMS fellows. The others are Fred Kocks, Terry Mitchell and Dave Embury, all of the Center for Materials Science.
"His [nomination] package was based on his distinctive contributions to the understanding of metals forming, the metallurgy of plutonium and his national leadership in materials science," said Stevens.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.