Viola L. Acoff is the dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi. She is also a full professor of mechanical engineering and a member of the Board of Directors for Carpenter Technology Corporation. Prior to this position, Acoff served for over 28 years in the College of Engineering at The University of Alabama (UA). Her last position at UA was associate dean for undergraduate and graduate programs and professor of metallurgical engineering. Acoff received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her areas of expertise are additive manufacturing, welding metallurgy, physical metallurgy, and materials characterization.

Acoff has served for over 25 years in various volunteer aspects of TMS including serving on the TMS Board of Directors (as chair of Membership, Diversity & Development), the TMS Foundation Board of Trustees, and chair of the Ad Hoc Public & Governmental Affairs Sub-Committee on Racial Justice. She was also named the inaugural recipient of the TMS Ellen Swallow Richards Diversity Award.

Acoff has been awarded more than $15 million in research grants, including a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. Acoff has over 25 years’ experience in increasing the number of STEM degrees awarded to students from groups underrepresented in the STEM fields. She has also introduced materials science to students at 82 of the nation’s 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in just over a decade. From September 2015 to June 2023, Acoff led the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program, which is a statewide effort funded by the NSF. She has published over 80 peer reviewed papers and given over 100 talks on her research on every continent except Antarctica. Acoff is also very active in her community, which includes serving on the Board of Trustees for the Four Little Girls Memorial Fund.

Image courtesy of Kevin Bain, Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services