The Robert B. Sosman Award is the highest recognition of scientific accomplishment given by the Basic Science Division (BSD) and is given in recognition of outstanding achievement in basic science of an area that results in a significant impact to the field of ceramics. In 2024, the BSD will honor awardee Professor Wai-Yim Ching (a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of University of Missouri) for his lifetime contributions to the field of computational modeling of ceramic materials. Professor Ching is a world-renowned expert in materials theory which covers disciplines across ceramics, physics, chemistry, biology, material science, engineering, medical science, geophysics, and earth science. The symposium consists of two parts. Part I is the award presentation by Professor Ching, with the title: “Large-scale ab initio computational modeling for complex materials.” Part II of the symposium consists of invited talks that feature the applications of density functional theory calculations to various state-of-the-art materials systems.