PROFESSOR JAIME GRUNLAN
Texas A&M University
Professor Jaime Grunlan is the Leland T. Jordan ’29 Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, where he has worked for 21 years. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry. His research focuses on thermal and transport properties of polymer nanocomposites, primarily in the form of coatings. He is a world leader in organic thermoelectric materials, gas barrier layers, and environmentally-benign, flame retardant nanocoatings. He holds 17 issued U.S. patents and several EU patents that have been licensed to more than 10 companies. He has published more than 230 journal papers, with an h-index of 67 and more than 28,000 citations. Dr. Grunlan has graduated 32 PhD students and has mentored more than 50 undergraduate students. His work has been highlighted in Smithsonian Magazine and the New York Times. He is an Editor of the Journal of Materials Science (SpringerNature) and Progress in Organic Coatings (Elsevier), along with being on various boards for several other top polymer journals. Prof. Grunlan is also on the Editorial Board of seven other journals. Prof. Grunlan became a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (FACS) in 2023. In 2024, he became a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI), along with being named Fellow of the POLY and PMSE Divisions of ACS.
The Tess Award is presented annually by the Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering at the Fall National ACS Meeting in recognition of outstanding contributions to coatings science, engineering and technology. It is funded by a grant to the Division from Dr. and Mrs. Roy W. Tess. The purpose of the award is to encourage interest and progress in coatings science technology and engineering and to recognize significant contributions to the field. The Award consists of a plaque and a $3000 cash prize, and coverage of travel expenses (up to a maximum of $1500). We look forward to recognizing Professor Grunlan at the PMSE/POLY Plenary Lecture and Awards Reception this Fall in Washington, DC.