James R. Varner is the Kruson Distinguished Professor of Ceramic Engineering at the Kazuo Inamori School of Engineering, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He teaches courses in mechanical properties of glasses and ceramics, mechanics of materials, and optical microscopy of materials. Research and professional interests include strength testing, understanding influences on strength, hardness, fractography, stresses, and processing influences on mechanical properties. He received his Ph.D. in Ceramics from Alfred University and is a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society, a member of the German Society of Glass Technology, serves as Committee Chair for the International Commission on Glass, Technical Committee 6, and is a member of the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers. Thomas P. Seward III retired in 2007 as Professor of Glass Science at the Kazuo Inamori School of Engineering at Alfred University, Alfred, N.Y. From July 1997 through April 2005, he served as Director of the NSF Industry-University Center for Glass Research at Alfred. Prior to joining the Alfred faculty, Dr. Seward held research, development, engineering and management positions at Corning Incorporated in New York. Helmut A. Schaeffer is the editor of Advances in Fusion and Processing of Glass III, published by Wiley.