Elizabeth Murphy, 2025 Henkel Award Winner
University of California, Santa Barbara
The Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Science and Engineering is given to recognize a graduate student or recent graduate who has completed an outstanding Ph.D. thesis in polymeric research. PMSE is proud to introduce this year’s winner, Elizabeth Murphy.
Elizabeth Murphy will receive her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara in March 2025 under the co-advisement of Professors Craig Hawker and Christopher Bates. Her graduate work focused on developing a versatile strategy for the accelerated discovery of block copolymers, integrating controlled polymerization, chromatographic separation, laboratory automation, and data-driven analysis. Elizabeth’s research accomplishments have been recognized with several awards, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the Edward J. Kramer Prize in Materials. Beyond her graduate research, Elizabeth has demonstrated a strong commitment to outreach, where she served as co-president of Chemistry Professional Development and as an outreach ambassador at the UCSB Materials Research Laboratory. Elizabeth will begin her career at The Dow Chemical Company in Collegeville, PA as a Senior Research Specialist in the Formulation, Automation, and Materials Science team.
The Henkel Award was established to recognize a PhD graduate student or recent graduate who has completed an outstanding PhD thesis in research at a university in the US or Canada. The award is administered and sponsored by the POLY/PMSE divisions of the ACS, the Polymer Education Committee (POLYED). The award has been previously sponsored by Unilever (1991-2003), National Starch (2006-2008) and AzkoNobel (2008-2013). Since 2014, it has been sponsored by Henkel Corporation.
The 2025 Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Science & Engineering will be presented during at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Washington, DC, in the POLY Division.
For further information about the award go to: https://polyacs.org/henkel-award-for-outstanding-graduate-student/