Mary Lynn Realff is the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Programs in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and also Cox Faculty Fellow, Co-Director of the Center for Women, Science, and Technology, and a Fellow of the Center for Deliberate Innovation. Dr. Realff (GT BS Textile Engineering 1987) has served on the faculty at Georgia Tech since 1992 and is currently leading the Effective Team Dynamics Initiative.

Dr. Realff is a transformational leader with a passion for providing an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. She led efforts at Georgia Tech and in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to change policies and practices to increase inclusion and belonging. She has been integral in setting organizational strategies across Georgia Tech, the National Science Foundation and the Center for Puppetry Arts. She served as the Vice President of Leadership and Diversity in ASME where the resulting policies and training have influenced the inclusion and belonging strategies of a wide range of professional societies. She has the energy to initiate and the dedication to sustain innovative education programs at the graduate, undergraduate and K-12 levels.

Dr. Realff is the founding director of the Center for Effective Team Dynamics (ETD) which delivers on the vision that Georgia Tech will be a community where everyone's unique contributions are recognized. ETD cultivates a supportive, productive, and harmonious learning community grounded in strengths-based collaboration. Her operational leadership and strategic oversight has resulted in the initiative impacting 9000 undergraduate and graduate students and 2200 post docs, faculty, and staff in just the past five years. The initiative partnered with the Center for Teaching and Learning to develop the curriculum and train faculty and staff as certified facilitators to deliver its content. Dr. Realff has disseminated this program to other institutions. She directs an NSF sponsored grant in innovation in graduate education which draws on best practices in team work to develop leaders in engineering practice. She has revamped the MSE UG lab experience and MSE curriculum with an emphasis on integrating assessment and including post-doc and graduate student development.

Dr. Realff is a dedicated educator who listens to and advocates for students and has been honored for her teaching and mentoring at Georgia Tech. Her leadership and teaching excellence have been recognized through the ASME Ben C. Sparks Medal, Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, Atlanta Partners for Education Business School Partnership Award, CETL/AMOCO Junior Faculty Teaching Award, Outstanding Faculty Award, ANAK Award, CETL Educational Partnership Award, and MSE Faculty Teaching Award. In 2007, she was named Fellow of ASME. She earned her B.S. degree in Textile Engineering at Georgia Tech and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Polymer Science & Engineering at MIT.

She lives in Atlanta with her husband (a Professor at Georgia Tech). They have two children: a son who lives in Japan and a daughter that lives in Wisconsin.

Teaching Interests

Professor Realff's teaching focuses on foundational and advanced courses in materials science and engineering, with an emphasis on polymer and fiber materials. She engages both undergraduate and graduate students in topics related to materials processing, characterization, and design. Her instruction aims to integrate theoretical and practical aspects, preparing students for research and professional careers in materials engineering and sustainable manufacturing systems.