Dr. Gschneidner was the founding Director of the Rare-earth Information Center from 1966 to 1996.Gschneidner received a B.S. degree from the University of Detroit in 1952 and his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1957. He was at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1957 to 1963 and joined Iowa State University in 1963.Gschneidner is considered the world’s foremost authority of rare earth science, technology, application and utilization. He has published over 485 papers in peer reviewed journals, holds 15 patents (plus 4 pending), and delivered 300 invited presentations. He retired in 2010 as the senior editor of the 41 volume series of the Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007 for “contributions to the science and technology of rare-earth materials”, and has received over 25 awards and honors, including Fellowships in five professional societies.