PMSE Distinguished Service Award
Started in 1993, the PMSE Distinguished Service Award is given to recognize extensive, sustained contributions and service to the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Division.
2022 Award Winner
Dr. Timothy J. Bunning, AFRL

Dr. Timothy J. Bunning is the Chief Technology Officer for Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), serving as the corporate-level science and technology interface for a government workforce of ~6,000 people in the laboratory’s nine technology directorates and 711th Human Performance Wing. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, is active in numerous technical communities and is a Fellow of AFRL, the Optical Society of America, the Society of Optical Engineering, the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Materials Research Society and the Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Division of ACS. His research interests center on responsive optical, electro- optical and photo-optical structured organic and hybrid materials and approaches for utility in optical sensing, laser beam control and filtering (modulation) applications. He has co-authored more than 300 refereed papers and more than 130 proceedings and holds 18 patents. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Tim has served PMSE through a variety of roles during his career including serving on the technical programming committee back in the day, as a long-time Member-at-Large, organizing numerous symposia, and most recently rotating through the PMSE Executive Committee serving as the Treasurer for two years (2017-2018), Program Chair (2019), Chair Elect (2020), Chair (2021), and Past Chair (2022). Tim states “It has been a pleasure to build a network of close colleagues and friends, and I would recommend early volunteerism into the division and the larger technical community as a whole. Those connects made through these interactions have legs and will serve young S&E’s into the future”. He is humbled to receive the award and happy that things are getting back to normal with regard to national meetings and face-to-face contact within the community. The last 24 months has been a challenge regarding the ‘PMSE division norms’ with the constantly changing national and ACS rules due to the COVID situation.
Award Details
The awardee will receive a $1500 prize, plaque, and a maximum of $1500 travel allowance to attend the Spring ACS National Meeting where the award is presented.
Nominations
Nominations for the next calendar year on August 30. Nomination packages are considered active for 4 years and should follow package submission guidelines.
Award Selection
Nominations will be reviewed by the members of the PMSE Distinguished Award Committee and any additional reviewers selected by the committee.
Past Recipients
Nominations and Award Process
Rules of Eligibility
The award is granted to an individual who is a current PMSE member. Nominees must be a long-standing PMSE member and have had on the order of 20+ years of engagement with PMSE, with substantial active involvement in the division. Activities could include serving as a leader on the Division’s Executive Committee, organizing many large symposia, serving as a PMSE representative on the ACS Council, or leading other important committee activities.
Nominations Package
Nominations are to be submitted by August 30 for consideration as an awardee for the next year. Nomination packages will be considered active for a term of four nomination years.
The nomination must include: (1) curriculum vitae and (2) supporting letter(s) describing the significance of the service to the PMSE division. All files should be sent in a single email to the Chair of the PMSE Cooperative Research Award Committee at .
Award Selection Process
Nominations will be reviewed by the members of the PMSE Distinguished Award Committee and any additional reviewers selected by the committee. Awardees are announced in the first half of the calendar year.
Conference Award Ceremony
Awards are presented at the Spring National ACS Conference.
Full List of PMSE Distinguished Service Award Winners
2020 – Present
2020 Qinghuang Lin
2010 – 2019
2019 Ray Fernando
2017 Stuart Croll
2016 Mark Soucek
2015 Jamil Baghdachi
2014 James V. Crivello
2013 Gordon P. Bierwagen
2012 Benny D. Freeman
2011 Dean C. Webster
2010 Charles R. Hegedus
2000 – 2009
2009 Christian Decker
2008 Clifford K. Schoff
2007 L. E. (Skip) Scriven
2006 Jonathan W. Martin
2005 J. Edward Glass
2004 Omkaram Nalamasu
2003 Rose Ryntz
2002 Mohamed El-Aasser
2001 Frank N. Jones
2000 David R. Bauer
1990 – 1999
1999 Mitchell A. Winnik
1998 Loren W. Hill
1997 Werner J. Blank
1996 John K. Gillham
1995 John L. Gardon
1994 Werner Funke
1993 Larry F. Thompson
1992 Ray A. Dickie
1991 Kenneth L. Hoy
1990 Walter K. Asbeck
1986 – 1989
1989 Theodore Provder
1988 Zeno W. Wicks, Jr.
1987 Marco Wismer
1986 Williams D. Emmons