Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Science and Engineering
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.
2024 Award Winner
Shu Wang
Advised by: Prof. Stephen L. Craig and Prof. Michael Rubinstein, Duke University
Shu received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Duke University in 2022, under the direction of Prof. Stephen L. Craig and Prof. Michael Rubinstein. During his graduate studies, Shu developed a keen interest in rupturing large molecules. He didn’t pursue this just for fun —though he found it immensely satisfying. Instead, he aims to understand how the scission of chemical bonds impacts the tear resistance of the polymeric materials they compose. His research effectively merged polymer theories with experimental practices, bridging the chemistry of polymer chains and junctions with the fracture mechanics of polymer networks. With his growing expertise in polymer chemistry and physics, Shu is currently exploring polymer mechanics as a postdoctoral associate working with Prof. Xuanhe Zhao at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shu’s research accomplishments have been recognized with awards, including the Shaffer Hunnicutt Fellowship and the Charles Bradsher Fellowship from Duke University.
The 2024 Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Science & Engineering will be presented during the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Denver, Colorado, August 21, 2024 in the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering. Over the last 30 years, this award has been jointly administered through the ACS Divisions of Polymer Chemistry (POLY) and Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering (PMSE), with generous financial support from the Henkel Corporation.
Sponsored By
Award Details
The award recognizes a graduate student or recent graduate for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis in polymeric research. The award consists of a plaque, $2000 honorarium, travel support, and a symposium organized by the primary nominator.
History
The award was originally established in 1991 and is operated by Polymer Education Committee (POLYED), the Polymer Chemistry (POLY) Division, and the Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Division.
Nominations
Nomination packages should follow package submission guidelines detailed below.
Nominations will be reviewed by members of the Henkel Outstanding Graduate Research Award Committee and others selected by the committee.
Past Recipients
Nominations and Award Process
Purpose
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.
Rules of Eligibility
A nominee must be a member or affiliate of the POLY or PMSE division of American Chemical Society.
Nominees must currently be a PhD candidate or have earned their PhD during the three years prior to January 1 of the award year.
Nominations Process
Award package submission deadline is January 25 of each calendar year for consideration in that calendar year award.
Nominators must be a member or affiliate of the POLY or PMSE division and must be the nominee’s thesis supervisor or someone intimately familiar with the nominee’s work. A complete nomination package comprises:
- Nominee’s Curriculum Vita (CV) including Education & Training, Awards & Honors, list of Publications, list of Conference Presentations, Professional Activities & Affiliations
- Synopsis of nominee’s graduate work: 2 pages maximum
- Nomination letter from the thesis advisor: 3 pages maximum
- Up to two (2) letters supporting the nomination: 2 pages maximum per letter
- Up to three (3) representative first author publications from the nominee’s graduate work.
Nominees are judged on the basis of their contribution to the thesis research, the quality and level of innovation demonstrated, and the impact of their research on the science and technology of synthetic polymers or bio-polymers. Preference will be given to nominees who have not already been recognized by two or more ACS Awards with associated honorary symposium. Complete nomination packages collated into a single PDF file containing the above items in the specified order should be sent by email to Professor Patricia Calvo (pcalvo@ksu.edu). The title of the email should be “(Year) Henkel Graduate Award” where (Year) is the year of the nomination deadline.
Award Selection
Nominees are judged on the basis of their contribution to the thesis research, the quality and level of innovation demonstrated, the impact of their research on the science and technology of synthetic polymers or bio-polymers, and their service and contributions to the broader community. Preference will be given to nominees who have not already been recognized by two or more ACS Awards with associated honorary symposium.
Award Announcement and Nature
Awardees will be notified before the deadline for submission of the abstracts for the Fall American Chemical Society National Meeting.
The award consists of a plaque, $2,000 honorarium, and travel support to attend the Fall ACS National Meeting in the year of the award. The award winner is invited to participate in a half-day symposium organized by the primary nominator (usually, the awardee’s thesis advisor). Additionally, the award will be presented at the joint POLY/PMSE awards presentation during the ACS National Meeting, typically on Wednesday evening.
About Our Sponsor
Henkel values highly the development of outstanding scientists in the field of polymer science and engineering. Progress in the field is vital for the future development of high performance materials that will enhance current technologies and enable future ones. Thus, Henkel is proud to sponsor this award to demonstrate their commitment recognizing outstanding young scientists.
Full List of Award Winners
The previous sponsorship of this award by Unilever (1991-2003), National Starch (2006 – 2008), and AzkoNobel (2008-2013) is greatly appreciated.
2020 – Present
2023
Christopher DelRe
Advised by: Prof. Ting Xu, University of California, Berkeley
2022
Jill W. Alty
Advised by: Prof. Frank Leibfarth, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2021
Austin M. Evans
Advised by: Prof. William R. Dichtel, Northwestern University
2020
Dr. Jeffrey Lopez
Advised by: Prof. Zhenan Bao, Stanford University
2019 – 2010
2019
Jovan Kamcev
Advised by: Profs. Benny D. Freeman and Donald R. Paul, University of Texas–Austin
2018
Aleksandr V. Zhukhovitskiy
Advised by: Jeremiah A. Johnson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2017
John. W. Colson
Advised by: William Dichtel, Cornell University
2016
Maxwell Robb
Advised by: Craig Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara
2015
Jessica Kramer
Advised by: Tim Deming, University of California, Los Angeles
2014
Felix Kim
Advised by: Samson Jenekhe, University of Washington
2013
Hua Lu
Advised by: Jianjun Cheng, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2012
Garret Miyake
Advised by: Eugene Chen, Colorado State University
2011
Rong Tong
Advised by: Jianjun Cheng, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2010
Haifeng Gao
Advised by: Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Carnegie Mellon University
2009 – 2000
2009
Christopher Bettinger
Advised by: Robert Langer, MIT
2008
Nikolay Tsarevsky
Advised by: Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Carnegie Mellon University
2007
Jason Rolland
Advised by: Joseph DiSimone, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2006
Jiaxing Huang
Advised by: Richard Kaner, UCLA
2003
Christopher Bielawski
Advised by: Robert Grubbs, California Institute of Technology
2002
Kristi Kiick
Advised by: David Tirrell, California Institute of Technology
2001
Shu Yang
Advised by: Christopher K. Ober, Cornell University
2000
X. Linda Chen
Advised by: Samson A. Jenekhe, University of Rochester
1999 – 1990
1999
Scott G. Gaynor
Advised by: Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Carnegie Mellon University
1998
James J. Watkins
Advised by: Thomas J. McCarthy, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
1997
D.-Y. Kim
Advised by: Sukant K. Tripathy, University of Massachusetts Lowell
1996
Kristi S. Anseth
Advised by: Christopher Bowman, University of Colorado at Boulder
1995
Rangaramanujam M. Kannan
Advised by: Julia Kornfield, California Institute of Technology
1994
Timothy J. Deming
Advised by: Bruce Novak, University of California, Berkeley
1993
Christopher N. Bowman
Advised by: Nicholas Peppas, Purdue University
1992
Richard Register
Advised by: Stuart Cooper, University of Wisconsin, Madison
1991
Christopher Gorman
Advised by: Robert Grubbs, California Institute of Technology