Alan Cramb was formerly dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI); he joined RPI in 2005. Prior to RPI, he was the head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he also was a professor and co-director of the Center for Iron and Steelmaking Research. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

During his time as dean at RPI, Cramb oversaw an increase in both undergraduate and graduate enrollments, a significant increase in research expenditures, the initiation of a mandatory international program for undergraduate engineering majors, and the introduction of the Lemelson-RPI prize for student innovation.

Cramb is the author of more than 190 publications and two patents, and was the recipient of the AISI Medal in 1985 and 1986, and the Robert Woolston Hunt Award of the Iron and Steel Society in 1987. He was named an Iron and Steel Society Professor in 1992 and was awarded the Benjamin Richard Teare Award at CMU for excellence in engineering education in 1995.

Cramb was the recipient of the Posco Chair for Iron and Steelmaking at CMU in 1997 and was the president of the Iron and Steel Society in 2000. He was made a fellow of the Iron and Steel Society in 2000 and named the John Elliott lecturer of TMS/ISS in 2002. In 2003, he gave the Carnegie lecture for the Pittsburgh branch of ASM and was awarded the Benjamin Fairless Award of AIME.

Cramb became president of the American Mining, Metallurgical, and Materials Society in 2005. He also was chairman of the University Materials Council and a board member of ABET in 2005. He gave the Henry Marion Howe lecture of AIME/AIST in 2007. In 2009, Cramb was named an honorary member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, as well as a fellow of the American Society for Metals International.