“For pioneering contributions to the molecular level understanding of polymer dynamics and crystallization through creative combination of theory and experiments.”

Ralph H. Colby received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University in 1979. After working for two years at the General Electric Company in rheology research and process development, he attended graduate school at Northwestern University, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1983 and 1985. Graduate research focused on rheology of linear polybutadiene melts and solutions, which included 15 months as a visiting scholar in the Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Corporate Research – Science Laboratories. He then worked for ten years at the Eastman Kodak Company in their Corporate Research Laboratories.  In 1995, Dr. Colby was hired as Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University and was promoted to Professor in 2000. He teaches a very demanding undergraduate course on Polymer Rheology and Processing and continues to use rheological experiments to probe the dynamics of polymers and other complex fluids.  Dr. Colby has over 250 publications and published a textbook Polymer Physics in 2003.  Current research topics include flow effects on polymer crystallization, associating aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) solutions, polyelectrolyte solutions in polar solvents, native cellulose solutions in ionic liquids, thermotropic liquid crystalline phases of conjugated polymers, a flow-induced nematic phase of poly(ether ether ketone) and single-ion conducting ionomers with polar additives, such as zwitterions.  He was the Editor of the Journal of Rheology 2011-2021 and was the recipient of the Society of Rheology’s Bingham Medal in 2012.

“For outstanding contributions in the development of polymeric biomaterials for medical devices and regenerative engineering.”

Dr. Melissa Grunlan is the Charles H. and Bettye Barclay Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU). She holds courtesy appointments in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Chemistry. After completing her B.S. (Chemistry) and M.S. (Polymers & Coatings) at North Dakota State University, Dr. Grunlan was employed at the H.B. Fuller Company (St. Paul, MN) for four years where she held titles of Chemist and then Senior Chemist. She then completed her Ph.D. (Chemistry) at the University of Southern California. For the last 16 years, Dr. Grunlan has built an internationally-recognized research program focused on the development of polymeric biomaterials for medical devices and regenerative engineering. Her technologies include osteochondral scaffolds, shape memory polymer bone scaffolds, synthetic cartilage, self-cleaning biosensor membranes, and antifouling silicones. She is Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Dr. Grunlan served as Chair of the PMSE Division in 2018. She co-organized the inaugural PMSE Future Faculty Symposium in 2018 and received the PMSE Distinguished Service Award in 2021. She is a member of the editorial advisory boards for three ACS journals.

“For outstanding contributions to bio-inspired materials design and manufacturing.”

Prof. LaShanda T. J. Korley is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD). Previously, she held the Climo Associate Professorship of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, where she started her independent career in 2007. Prof. Korley is the Director of the recently awarded Energy Frontier Research Center – Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) funded by the Department of Energy and also the Co-Director of the recently announced Materials Research Science and Center – UD Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials (UD CHARM). She is also the Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE): Bio-inspired Materials and Systems and the co-director of the Center for Research in Soft matter & Polymers (CRiSP) at the University of Delaware.

She received a B.S. in both Chemistry & Engineering from Clark Atlanta University as well as a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. Prof. Korley completed her doctoral studies at MIT in Chemical Engineering and the Program in Polymer Science and Technology in 2005, and she was the recipient of the Provost’s Academic Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University in 2005. She was named a DuPont Young Professor in 2011 and was selected for the National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering symposium. She is a Kavli Fellow as part of the Japanese/American Frontiers of Science Symposium.. Recently, Prof. Korley was elected as Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and was awarded the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Research and the American Institute for Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Minority Affairs Committee Gerry Lessells Award. Her research focuses on bio-inspired polymeric materials, film and fiber manufacturing, plastics recycling and upcycling strategies, stimuli-responsive composites, peptide-polymer hybrids, fiber-reinforced hydrogels, and renewable materials derived from biomass.

“For original contributions to organocatalysis for ring-opening polymerization and stereochemically controlled polymerization.”

Andrew graduated from the University of York with an MChem degree in 1999. His subsequent Ph.D. studies were conducted under the supervision of Prof. Vernon C. Gibson FRS at Imperial College, London, focused on metal catalysed co-ordination insertion polymerisation. Andrew undertook post-doctoral research first under the guidance of Prof. Robert M. Waymouth at Stanford University, California and then as a CIPMA post-doctoral fellow at IBM, San Jose, California under the supervision of Dr James L. Hedrick and Prof. Robert M. Waymouth. Andrew returned to the UK to take up a RCUK Fellowship in Nanotechnology in September 2005 before being appointed as an Assistant Professor in September 2006 and subsequently as an Associate Professor in September 2009 before being appointed as a Full Professor in June 2014. In January 2018, Andrew joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham as Professor of Chemistry.

“For pioneering and innovative contributions that interface supramolecular and polymer chemistry to access new applied polymeric and colloidal materials.”

Marcus Weck is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Associate Director of the Molecular Design Institute. He received his M.S. from the University of Mainz, Germany (1994) and his Ph.D. in Organic and Polymer Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (1998). He was a German Academic Exchange Service Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University in 1998 and previously taught at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Weck’s research interests are in the areas of organic and polymer chemistry as well as materials science. The main foci of his group are in supported catalysis, the introduction of complexity through the use of orthogonal functionalization methods, colloidal chemistry, and the synthesis of polymers, organized assemblies, biomaterials, and nanostructures. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the NSF Career Award, a DuPont Young Professor Award, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher/Scholar Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel-Award. He is a Fellow of the Polymer Division of the American Chemical Society and serves on the international advisory boards of multiple polymer-related journals.

“For pioneering contributions to the molecular level understanding of polymer dynamics and crystallization through creative combination of theory and experiments.”

Ralph H. Colby received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University in 1979. After working for two years at the General Electric Company in rheology research and process development, he attended graduate school at Northwestern University, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1983 and 1985. Graduate research focused on rheology of linear polybutadiene melts and solutions, which included 15 months as a visiting scholar in the Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Corporate Research – Science Laboratories. He then worked for ten years at the Eastman Kodak Company in their Corporate Research Laboratories.  In 1995, Dr. Colby was hired as Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University and was promoted to Professor in 2000. He teaches a very demanding undergraduate course on Polymer Rheology and Processing and continues to use rheological experiments to probe the dynamics of polymers and other complex fluids.  Dr. Colby has over 250 publications and published a textbook Polymer Physics in 2003.  Current research topics include flow effects on polymer crystallization, associating aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) solutions, polyelectrolyte solutions in polar solvents, native cellulose solutions in ionic liquids, thermotropic liquid crystalline phases of conjugated polymers, a flow-induced nematic phase of poly(ether ether ketone) and single-ion conducting ionomers with polar additives, such as zwitterions.  He was the Editor of the Journal of Rheology 2011-2021 and was the recipient of the Society of Rheology’s Bingham Medal in 2012.

“For outstanding contributions in the development of polymeric biomaterials for medical devices and regenerative engineering.”

Dr. Melissa Grunlan is the Charles H. and Bettye Barclay Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU). She holds courtesy appointments in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Chemistry. After completing her B.S. (Chemistry) and M.S. (Polymers & Coatings) at North Dakota State University, Dr. Grunlan was employed at the H.B. Fuller Company (St. Paul, MN) for four years where she held titles of Chemist and then Senior Chemist. She then completed her Ph.D. (Chemistry) at the University of Southern California. For the last 16 years, Dr. Grunlan has built an internationally-recognized research program focused on the development of polymeric biomaterials for medical devices and regenerative engineering. Her technologies include osteochondral scaffolds, shape memory polymer bone scaffolds, synthetic cartilage, self-cleaning biosensor membranes, and antifouling silicones. She is Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Dr. Grunlan served as Chair of the PMSE Division in 2018. She co-organized the inaugural PMSE Future Faculty Symposium in 2018 and received the PMSE Distinguished Service Award in 2021. She is a member of the editorial advisory boards for three ACS journals.

“For outstanding contributions to bio-inspired materials design and manufacturing.”

Prof. LaShanda T. J. Korley is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD). Previously, she held the Climo Associate Professorship of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, where she started her independent career in 2007. Prof. Korley is the Director of the recently awarded Energy Frontier Research Center – Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) funded by the Department of Energy and also the Co-Director of the recently announced Materials Research Science and Center – UD Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials (UD CHARM). She is also the Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE): Bio-inspired Materials and Systems and the co-director of the Center for Research in Soft matter & Polymers (CRiSP) at the University of Delaware.

She received a B.S. in both Chemistry & Engineering from Clark Atlanta University as well as a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. Prof. Korley completed her doctoral studies at MIT in Chemical Engineering and the Program in Polymer Science and Technology in 2005, and she was the recipient of the Provost’s Academic Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University in 2005. She was named a DuPont Young Professor in 2011 and was selected for the National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering symposium. She is a Kavli Fellow as part of the Japanese/American Frontiers of Science Symposium.. Recently, Prof. Korley was elected as Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and was awarded the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Research and the American Institute for Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Minority Affairs Committee Gerry Lessells Award. Her research focuses on bio-inspired polymeric materials, film and fiber manufacturing, plastics recycling and upcycling strategies, stimuli-responsive composites, peptide-polymer hybrids, fiber-reinforced hydrogels, and renewable materials derived from biomass.

“For original contributions to organocatalysis for ring-opening polymerization and stereochemically controlled polymerization.”

Andrew graduated from the University of York with an MChem degree in 1999. His subsequent Ph.D. studies were conducted under the supervision of Prof. Vernon C. Gibson FRS at Imperial College, London, focused on metal catalysed co-ordination insertion polymerisation. Andrew undertook post-doctoral research first under the guidance of Prof. Robert M. Waymouth at Stanford University, California and then as a CIPMA post-doctoral fellow at IBM, San Jose, California under the supervision of Dr James L. Hedrick and Prof. Robert M. Waymouth. Andrew returned to the UK to take up a RCUK Fellowship in Nanotechnology in September 2005 before being appointed as an Assistant Professor in September 2006 and subsequently as an Associate Professor in September 2009 before being appointed as a Full Professor in June 2014. In January 2018, Andrew joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham as Professor of Chemistry.

“For pioneering and innovative contributions that interface supramolecular and polymer chemistry to access new applied polymeric and colloidal materials.”

Marcus Weck is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Associate Director of the Molecular Design Institute. He received his M.S. from the University of Mainz, Germany (1994) and his Ph.D. in Organic and Polymer Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (1998). He was a German Academic Exchange Service Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University in 1998 and previously taught at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Weck’s research interests are in the areas of organic and polymer chemistry as well as materials science. The main foci of his group are in supported catalysis, the introduction of complexity through the use of orthogonal functionalization methods, colloidal chemistry, and the synthesis of polymers, organized assemblies, biomaterials, and nanostructures. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the NSF Career Award, a DuPont Young Professor Award, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher/Scholar Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel-Award. He is a Fellow of the Polymer Division of the American Chemical Society and serves on the international advisory boards of multiple polymer-related journals.

“For fundamental and practical contributions to the understanding and applications of phase behavior and nanophase self-assembly of block copolymers.”

Dr. Richard J. Spontak is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science & Engineering and Alumni Distinguished Graduate and Undergraduate Professor at NC State University. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering (with honors/high distinction) from Penn State University in 1983 and was awarded his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 1988. He then pursued post-doctoral research in Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) and Condensed Matter Physics at the Institute for Energy Technology (Norway) before joining the Corporate Research Division of the Procter & Gamble Company in 1990. In 1992, he accepted a faculty position at NC State University, where he supervises the Macromolecular Materials & Morphology Group. Although active in a diverse range of disciplines, his primary research interests relate to the phase behavior and morphology/property development of nanostructured polymers, polymer nanocomposites and coatings, electron microscopy, and stimuli-responsive soft materials.

In recognition of his research endeavors, he is the recipient of the Alcoa Foundation Engineering Achievement and Distinguished Engineering Research Awards, Alexander von Humboldt and Tewkesbury fellowships, the NC State University Alumni Outstanding Research and Global Engagement Awards, the ACS (PMSE Division) Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science & Engineering, the German Society for Electron Microscopy Ernst Ruska Prize, the ACS (Rubber Division) Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Colwyn Medal, the Norwegian University of Science & Technology Lars Onsager Professorship and Medal, the Society of Plastics Engineers International Award, the Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumnus Award, and the International Association of Advanced Materials Researcher of the Year Award. An elected fellow of the American Physical Society, IOM3 and the Royal Society of Chemistry, he is or has been on the editorial advisory board of more than 20 international journals and holds editorial positions on 3 of them. He has been recognized as an Outstanding Scholar Alumnus and an Alumni Fellow by Penn State University, and he is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences and the NC State University Research Leadership, Global Engagement and Outstanding Teaching Academies. Spontak is also a highly acclaimed educator and academic mentor and has received college- and alumni-level Outstanding Teaching Awards, as well as the university-level Board of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest institutional honor bestowed by the UNC system. A recipient of the American Society for Engineering Education Southeast Region Outstanding Mid-Career Teaching Award, he has served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist.