Professor Stuart Hampshire is Professor Emeritus of Materials Science at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Following graduation from the University of Sheffield in Ceramics Technology, he worked in industry on nitride-bonded refractories before undertaking a PhD at the University of Newcastle on Sintering of Nitride Ceramics and post-doctoral research on Oxynitride Glasses.

At the University of Limerick from 1981, Professor Hampshire developed the first degree program in Materials Science and established a research group on ceramics and glasses, collaborating with other laboratories in Europe. He was appointed full professor in 1996 and Director of the Materials Ireland Research Centre which supported Irish industry in areas of Materials Technology. In 1999 as a founding member of the Materials and Surface Science Institute (now the Bernal Institute) he successfully led a bid for €16 million for state-of-the-art laboratories and analytical facilities. He received the University of Limerick’s Award for Excellence in Research in 2007.

Professor Hampshire has published over 250 papers, many related to silicon nitride-based ceramics and oxynitride glasses. He is a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society and a member of its Council. The Society presented him with the Stuijts Award in 2007. He was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Limoges, France in 2009.

Professor Hampshire is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and a member of the Engineering Ceramics Division. He was presented with the International Bridge Building Award in 2008 and the ECD held a symposium in his honor in 2014. He has served on the W. David Kingery Award committee 2011-2014, the Nominations Committee 2014-2017 and the Medal for Leadership in the Advancement of Ceramic Technology Sub-Committee 2018-2023.