The purpose of the ACS Global Outstanding Graduate Student and Mentor Award is to disseminate globally the latest knowledge of polymer research and to recognize at the ACS National Meeting not just two winning students, one from the USA and one from anywhere in the world, but also their mentors. Sponsored by Chemical Marketing & Economics, Inc. (CME), the awards, which are co-organized by CME and the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Division of the American Chemical Society, recognize graduate students within one year of graduation or a recent graduate who has completed an outstanding thesis in polymer research accepted by a university during the three-year period prior to January 1 of the award year. PMSE and CME are proud to announce this year’s winners:
ACS Global Outstanding Graduate Student
Dr. Maggie Horst
Stanford University
Dr. Maggie Horst is a postdoctoral fellow exploring the design and reactivity of functional proteins at the University of California San Francisco with Prof. William DeGrado. Dr. Horst grew up in North Carolina and received a B.S. in Chemistry from Duke University in 2018 after researching with Profs. Katherine Franz and Stephen Craig. In 2024, Maggie earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University under the mentorship of Prof. Yan Xia. Maggie’s doctoral work advanced understanding of force-driven reactions in polymers using synthesis, characterization, and computation. This research led to the development of design principles for new mechanophores, the discovery of complex and low force reactivity in fused cyclobutanes, and the identification of molecular features that induce non-statistical dynamic effects in multistep mechanochemical reactions. Maggie has received numerous awards, including the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and the ACS PMSE Centennial Future Leaders’ Award.
ACS Global Outstanding Mentor
Professor Yan Xia
Stanford University
Yan Xia received his BS degree in chemistry from Peking University, MSc from McMaster University, and PhD from Caltech. Following his PhD stint, he worked at Dow Chemical as a senior chemist and then MIT as a postdoc. He joined the chemistry department at Stanford University in 2013 and is now an Associate Professor. His research group is interested in leveraging unusual molecular structures and reactivities in polymer designs to probe fundamental questions and tackle technological challenges.
ACS Global Outstanding Graduate Student
Dr. Hyun Suk Wang
ETH Zurich
Hyun Suk Wang received his B.Eng and M.Eng in Chemical Engineering from Korea University. He then obtained his PhD at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Prof. Athina Anastasaki as a Swiss Government Excellence Scholar. During his PhD, Hyun Suk’s research revolved around the chemical recycling of polymers synthesized by controlled and free radical polymerization. In 2024, he was awarded the Swiss Chemical Society MatChem PhD Student Award for the best thesis in materials chemistry.
ACS Global Outstanding Mentor
Professor Dr. Athina Anastasaki
ETH Zurich
Athina Anastasaki was born and raised in Athens, Greece and obtained her B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Athens. She then commenced her PhD studies at the University of Warwick under the supervision of Prof. Dave Haddleton. In early 2015, she accepted a Monash-Warwick research fellow position between the Pharmaceutical department at Monash University and the University of Warwick, jointly supervised by Professor Thomas Davis and Professor Dave Haddleton. She then received an Elings Fellowship, followed by a Global Marie Curie Fellowship, to conduct research alongside Professor Craig Hawker at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She started her independent career as an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich in 2019 and was promoted to Associate Professor earlier this year. She is the Head of the Laboratory of Sustainable Polymers, and her group focuses on modern polymer chemistry and recycling methodologies.