Leslie Lamberson

Dr. Leslie Lamberson is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and a Ben L. Fryrear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence. She earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.A. in Dance Performance from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology under Professor Ares Rosakis. In 2024, she completed an M.B.A. with the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School as a Forte Fellow, further enhancing her leadership in innovation and interdisciplinary research. 

Leslie’s career spans academia, industry, and government, including roles as a Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works” engineer, a NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow specializing in materials and structures for extreme environments, and a postdoctoral research scholar with K.T. Ramesh at Johns Hopkins University. Before joining Mines, she was the P.C. Chou Assistant Professor at Drexel University, holding appointments in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. 

A former board member of the American Society for Composites (ASC) and the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), Leslie currently serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Strain (Wiley). A recipient of the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and the NSF CAREER Award, her research focuses on the mechanics of materials under extreme conditions, impact physics, and advanced optical metrology and inverse techniques. She continues to drive innovative research and leadership, addressing critical challenges in aerospace, defense, and materials science, while educating the next generation of scientists and engineers.