John Speer is the ABS Professor of Metallurgy at Colorado School of Mines, and Director of the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center (ASPPRC), a research consortium supported by 28 companies.  He received a B.S. degree from Lehigh University in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, in 1980 and a D.Phil. in Physical Metallurgy from the University of Oxford, UK in 1983.  He served in various positions at the Homer Research Laboratories of Bethlehem Steel Corporation from 1983-1997, and became a Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Colorado School of Mines in 1997.  He also served as Mines’ Associate Vice-President for Research from 2008 until he began his tenure as ASPPRC Director in 2013.  John’s activities are especially focussed on development and application of steels.  He is a Fellow of ASM International, a Distinguished Member of AIST, Past President of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (the “parent” of AIST, TMS, SME and SPE), and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering.