Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

Talk: New materials by macromolecular engineering using atom transfer radical polymerization

Krzysztof (Kris) Matyjaszewski is J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences and director of Center for Macromolecular Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1994 he discovered Cu-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization, commercialized in 2004 in US, Japan and Europe to prepare various advanced materials. His group at CMU has comprised over 100 graduate students and 150 postdoctoral fellows.

His research is focused on synthesis of well-defined macromolecules and hybrid materials via living and controlled polymerizations using radical, and ionic mechanisms to prepare advanced materials for optoelectronic, biomedical, environmental and energy-related applications. He has co-authored 1,200 publications, co-edited 25 books, and holds 66 US patents. During his tenure (1999-2021) as the editor-in-chief of Progress in Polymer Science,  impact factor increased from 2.7 to 29.2. He is a member of National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Inventors as well as European, Australian, Polish and Russian Academies of Sciences. He received 2021 Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, 2017 Franklin Medal in Chemistry, 2015 Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, 2011 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, ACS Awards in: Chemistry of Materials (2019), Applied Polymer Science (2011) and Polymer Chemistry (2002) as well as eleven honorary degrees.