Brendan Hanrahan

U.S. Army Research Laboratory | Adelphi, MD | 2022

Brendan Hanrahan Portrait Photo

The Presidential Award is the culmination of a years-long personal quest to improve equity in STEM. I have found mentoring, particularly of underrepresented groups, to be the most impactful, rewarding, and important aspect of my work. Each mentee I spend time with has returned the favor and been a mentor to me as well. This award is also shared with all of them.

The official biography below was current at the time of the award. Awardees may choose to provide their latest biographical information on their profile page.

Brendan Hanrahan is a senior materials engineer in the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Energy Sciences Division. Since joining the Army Lab in 2007, Brendan has won several awards for mentoring and community activities including the Federal Gold Award (National Capital Region) for Community Service in 2016, a Civilian Meritorious Service Medal for diversity, equity, and inclusion work in 2021, and the Army Lab’s highest award for mentoring in 2022. As President of the not-for-profit Mid-Atlantic Micro/Nano Alliance, Brendan improved access to technical mentorship for students from community colleges. His mentees have been decorated with awards for public speaking, pitch competitions, and featured articles in peer-reviewed publications. Over the last 12 years, Brendan has been at the lead of a culture change at the Army Lab, working to improve diversity and inclusion at the lab through mentoring. His mentoring cohort of 86% underrepresented groups in STEM stands in stark contrast to the 68% white male workforce. He is most proud of where his mentees continue to grow at some of the top STEM organizations around the country including DARPA, Space X, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and more. Brendan continues his lab-intensive, small group mentoring among undergraduate students, graduate students, and visiting K-12 STEM teachers. At the organizational level, he tirelessly works to make the Laboratory look more like the country and inspire the next generation of STEM patriots. Brendan earned his B.S. in ceramic and materials engineering from Clemson University and his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Maryland.