Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Krzysztof Matyjaszewski (born April 8, 1950) is a Polish-American chemist. He is the J.C. Warner Professor of the Natural Sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University Matyjaszewski is best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the way macromolecules are made In 2011 he was a co-winner of the prestigious Wolf Prize in Chemistry.

Biography

Krzysztof (Kris) Matyjaszewski is an internationally recognized polymer chemist. He is perhaps best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has dramatically changed the way such molecules are made.

Matyjaszewski received his doctorate from the Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1976 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida in 1977. From 1978 to 1984, he was a research associate of the Polish Academy of Sciences. From 1984 to 1985, Matyjaszewski held appointments at the University of Paris, first as a research associate and then as a visiting professor. In 1985, he joined the chemistry department at Carnegie Mellon. He founded and currently directs the university's Center for Macromolecular Engineering. This Center is funded both by an active consortium and government agencies, including the National Science Foundation. In 1998, Matyjaszewski was appointed the J.C. Warner Professor of Natural Sciences. In 2004 he was named a University Professor, the highest distinction faculty can achieve at Carnegie Mellon. Mayjaszewski is also an adjunct professor in Carnegie Mellon's department of materials science and engineering.

From 1994 to 1998, Matyjaszewski served as head of the Department of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon and assisted in recruiting additional faculty with strengths in polymer chemistry. At the same time, he formed a research consortium with various industrial corporations to expand the understanding of controlled radical polymerization, including ATRP, and accelerate the transfer of this technology to different commercial applications. A second consortium, the CRP Consortium, formed under his leadership in 2001, continues and expands these efforts, training university and industrial scientists in procedures for responsive polymeric material development. Matyjaszewski is a co-inventor on 51 issued U.S. patented technologies, holds 143 international patents and has 36 active U.S. patent applications.

One of the leading educators in the field of polymer chemistry, Matyjaszewski has 14 current doctoral students and 5 postdoctoral fellows. He has mentored more than 200 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students since joining Carnegie Mellon. He has authored 19 books, 90 book chapters and more than 900 peer-reviewed scientific papers. His work has been cited in the scientific literature more than 74,000 times, making him one of the most cited chemists in the world.

Matyjaszewski has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2015 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences, 2012 Dannie-Heineman Prize from the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, 2011 Wolf Prize in Chemistry and the 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. He has been honored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) with the 2015 Charles G. Overberger Prize, the inaugural AkzoNobel North America Science Award in 2013, 2011 Applied Polymer Science Award, 2007 Hermann F. Mark Senior Scholar Award, 2004 Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science & Engineering, 2002 Polymer Chemistry Award, and the 1995 Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award. He also received the 2005 UK Macro Medal for outstanding achievements in polymer science, 1995 Humboldt Award for Senior U.S. Scientists and a 1989 Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. In 2006, he was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, in 2014 a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, in 2010 a fellow in the ACS Polymer Division, and in 2001 he was elected an ACS Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Fellow.[citation needed] He is also a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Chinese Chemical Society[disambiguation needed] and Israel Chemical Society.

Matyjaszewski’s work has been recognized in his native country of Poland. In 2004, he received the Annual Prize of the Foundation of Polish Science, the most prestigious scientific award in Poland, referred to as the Polish Nobel Prize. In 2005 he became a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Science, and in 2007, he received an honorary degree from Polytechnic University of Lodz in Poland. He has also received honorary degrees from the University of Ghent, Belgium, Russian Academy of Sciences, University of Athens, Greece, Polytechnic Institute in Toulouse, France, Pusan National University in South Korea, Universite P. & M. Curie, Sorbonne in Paris, and Technion in Haifa, Israel.

Education

• 1972, B.S./M.S., Technical University of Moscow
• 1976, Ph.D., Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz, Poland
• 1985, Habilitation, Technical University of Lodz, Poland

Awards and honors

• 2015 The Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences
• 2015 The Charles Overberger Prize (ACS)
• 2014 National Institute for Materials Science (Japan) Award
• 2014 Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
• 2013 Inaugural Akzo Nobel North America Science Award, American Chemical Society
• 2013 Madison Marshall Award, American Chemical Society, Alabama Section
• 2012 Maria Sklodowska-Curie Medal, Polish Chemical Society
• 2012 Société Chimique de France Prize
• 2012 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Science Medal, Pilsudski Institute of America
• 2012 Dannie-Heineman Prize, Göttingen Academy of Sciences
• 2011 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, with Stuart Alan Rice of the University of Chicago and Ching W. Tang of the University of Rochester
• 2011 Japanese Society Polymer Science Award
• 2011 Applied Polymer Science Award, American Chemical Society
• 2011 Carnegie Science Award for Excellence, Advanced Materials
• 2011 Fellow, American Chemical Society
• 2010 Gutenberg Award, University of Mainz
• 2010 Fellow, American Chemical Society Polymer Chemistry Division
• 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award[19][20]
• 2007 Herman Mark Senior Scholar Award, American Chemical Society
• 2006 Member, National Academy of Engineering
• 2005 Macro Group Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry
• 2005 Foreign Member, Polish Academy of Sciences
• 2005 Chair, Gordon Research Conference, Polymer East
• 2004 Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science
• 2004 Cooperative Research Award, American Chemical Society
• 2002 Polymer Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society
• 2001 Pittsburgh Award, American Chemical Society
• 2001 Fellow, Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Fellow, American Chemical Society
• 1999 Humboldt Award for Senior Scientists
• 1998 Elf Chair of the French Academy of Sciences
• 1995 Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society
• 1989 Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation
• 1981 Award of the Polish Academy of Sciences
• 1980 Award of the Polish Chemical Society
• 1974 Award of the Scientific Secretary of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Honorary degrees

• 2015 - Technion, Haifa, Israel
• 2013 - Universite P. & M. Curie, Sorbonne, Paris, France
• 2013 - Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
• 2010 – l'Institut Polytechnique, Toulouse, France
• 2008 – University of Athens, Greece
• 2007 – Technical University of Lodz, Poland
• 2006 – Russian Academy of Sciences
• 2002 – University of Ghent, Belgium