PORTLAND, OR, August 15, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Tracey Scherban, PhD, retired chemistry instructor from Portland Community College, was selected by Marquis Who's Who for a prominent feature in the Pacific Northwest Edition of The Wall Street Journal, published on August 7, 2025.

Drawing on extensive expertise in materials science and chemistry, Dr. Tracey Scherban is widely regarded as a materials chemist and chemistry educator with over 30 years of professional experience. Retired since 2019, she thrived as a chemistry instructor at Portland Community College in Oregon, beginning in 2009. There, she made a lasting impression on students and faculty alike due to her unwavering mentorship and commitment to educational principles. In her retirement, Dr. Scherban also serves as the women's chemists committee chairperson for the Portland chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS), through which she organizes events and symposia to honor and celebrate fellow women in science.

Dr. Scherban worked at Intel Corporation from 1983 to 1986 and from 1993 to 2004, holding positions in plasma etch, thin films and defect metrology, culminating in six years as the thermal mechanics group leader, where she established a lab for measuring mechanical properties of thin films. She collaborated with Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Minnesota, and Centro Tecnológico CEIT in Spain to develop novel techniques to characterize thin film adhesion, fracture and stress relaxation. Dr. Scherban has authored 36 scientific publications and holds one U.S. patent.

To prepare for her career, Dr. Scherban attended Reed College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry in 1983. Subsequently, she earned a master's degree in solid state science and a Doctor of Philosophy in materials science from Columbia University in 1988 and 1991, respectively. As a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Scherban continued her studies of high-temperature protonic conductors at the Laboratoire d'Ionique et d'Electrochimique du Solide in Grenoble, France. She gave research talks at the Max Planck Institut in Stuttgart, Germany, the University of Aachen and Delft University, as well as her home research laboratory (in French, of course).

Dr. Scherban is proud of her academic journey, which has served as a strong foundation for what would become a highly successful scientific career. In accounting for her success, she credits the inspiration she has drawn from her family, friends and countless mentors, including her Columbia research advisor, Professor Arthur S. Nowick and her engineering manager at Intel Corporation, Dr. William Harshbarger, both of whom are deceased.

Currently, Dr. Scherban is organizing the American Chemical Society Women in Science Elaine Nam Memorial Symposium to be held on September 28, 2025, at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The logo for the symposium is a symbol of Aristotle's four elements: earth, air, fire and water, with the women's symbol at its center to highlight the contributions of women in the sciences throughout history. This symposium is expected to draw over 100 high school and college students from Portland area schools and will include more than 30 STEM professionals as speakers, panelists and lunch mentors.

As chairperson of the women's chemists committee for the Portland ACS, Dr. Scherban will continue to organize events in support of women in science. She is also looking into the possibility of running for office in Tillamook County, Oregon, to further her commitment to the environment, government support of scientific research and basic human rights.

About Marquis Who's Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.

# # #