Member, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; Professor of Materials Science, the Technion; Member, National Academy of Engineering (U.S.); recipient of the Rothschild Prize in engineering (1990), the Israel Prize in physics (1997/98), the Wolf Foundation Prize (1999), the Gregori Aminoff Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (2000), and the Emet (Art, Science, and Culture) Prize awarded by the Prime Minister of Israel (2002). The Chemistry Nobel Prize laureate, 2011.

Prof. Shechtman was the chair of the Initiative for Applied Education Research's steering committee from 2003 to 2008.