Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award

2001

Dr. Craig J. Hawker, Research Staff Member at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA, will receive the 2001 Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award of the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry, sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company Foundation. The Carl S. Marvel award recognizes accomplishments and innovations of unusual merit in the field of basic or applied polymer science by younger scientists.

Since receiving his Ph.D. under the direction of Professor Sir A.R. Battersby (Cambridge 1988), and Post-doctoral Advisor, Professor J.M.J. Frechet (Cornell 1990), Dr. Hawker has contributed important and innovative strategies toward the synthesis and elaboration of macromolecules with well defined architectures. He has established himself as a leader in modern polymer synthesis and is credited as inventor and pioneer of the convergent synthetic strategy toward dendritic macromolecules. Hawker's original work in this area has now been duplicated in hundreds of publications that rely on the original "Hawker methodology" to afford synthetic macromolecules in which molecular shape, size, functionality, and degree of branching in hyperbranched systems are controlled with accuracy and are unmatched in non-natural macromolecules. In addition, Hawker has contributed significantly to the area of controlled/living radical polymerization by demonstrating the importance of using well defined initiators and combinatorial approaches.

Dr. Hawker's work has resulted in over 200 publications, 15 US patents, and numerous professional honors including the IUPAC Young Scientists Award (2000), ACS Arthur K. Doolittle Award (1997), and several IBM Patent Invention Awards. His current professional service activities include: Editor of the Journal of Polymer Science, Editorial Board of Polymer Bulletin, Editorial Board of Chemistry of Materials; Editorial Board of the International Journal of Polymeric Materials, Scientific Advisory Board for SYMYX Technologies and Microbar Technologies, and Advisory Board for The Knowledge Foundation.

The Carl S. Marvel - Creative Polymer Chemistry Award will be presented to Dr. Hawker during the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, CA on April 1-5. The award symposium will be Sunday, April 1 in the San Diego Marriott (San Diego C), followed by an Awards Reception on Monday at 5:30 PM in Hall B.

POLY Publicity Committee
Erica Martin, Chair (emartin@morton.com)
Dennis Smith, Past Chair