ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates has presented the Award of Merit to Ara A. Jeknavorian, Ph.D., a research fellow at W.R. Grace & Co., Cambridge, Mass. The Award of Merit and its accompanying title of fellow is ASTM’s highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to standards activities. 

Committee C09 honored Jeknavorian for his dedicated longtime service and outstanding contributions to standards for traditional and newly developed concrete admixtures and supplementary cementitious materials. He currently serves as a member at large on the C09 executive subcommittee and is a past chairman of Subcommittee C09.23 on Chemical Admixtures. A member of ASTM International since 1984, Jeknavorian was awarded honorary C09 membership status in 2004 and received an Award of Appreciation in 2011.

Jeknavorian’s research focuses on the use of analytical chemistry to characterize material in support of product development and troubleshooting product performance issues, and the development of chemical admixtures for concrete mixtures. He has been with W.R. Grace since 1979 and has authored more than 40 publications and holds 18 patents related to chemical admixtures.

Outside ASTM International, Jeknavorian is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Concrete Institute. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the former Lowell Technological Institute, Lowell, Mass., and earned his master’s and doctorate in analytical chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #9412