World renowned polymer chemist to serve as visiting scholar
The Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute and the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech have announced that Ludwik Leibler, director of the Laboratory for Soft Matter and Chemistry at ESPCI ParisTech in France and director of exceptional research at the French National Center for Scientific Research, will be the Fralin-Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute Visiting Scholar for 2014.
He will be in residence at Virginia Tech from May 19 to 23.
Leibler, a theoretical physicist by training, is a world leader in studies on how simple and complex monomer and macromolecular structures govern both chemistries and properties of polymeric materials.
“Dr. Leibler’s research in the area of supramolecular polymer chemistry has provided considerable insight into this field and has enabled developments ranging from new approaches for block copolymers for thermoplastic elastomers to new concepts and materials for applications in complex bioadhesion problems,” said Richard Turner, director of the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute and professor of chemistry in the College of Science. “We are delighted to have him here to teach and interact with the students and faculty at Virginia Tech.”
Leibler is the recipient of numerous awards including the American Chemical Society award in Polymer Chemistry in 2007 and the American Physical Society’s Polymer Physics Prize in 2006. He was elected a foreign associate to the National Academy of Engineering in 2004.
He has been cited for transferring his fundamental scientific insights to industry, where they provide important societal benefits. For these achievements, he received the 2013 Medal for Innovation from the French National Center for Scientific Research.
The objective of the visiting scholar activity is to enhance interdisciplinary interactions among the polymer and materials communities and the life science communities on the Virginia Tech campus. During his stay, Leibler will meet with students, research groups, and individual faculty members.
Appointments with Leibler can be scheduled by contacting Tammy Jo Hiner in the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute.
“We are pleased that Professor Leibler will be our 2014 Visiting Scholar,” said Dennis Dean, director of the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech. “He will bring to our faculty new perspectives, from the macromolecular science viewpoint, of how to translate polymer research into important biological areas such as bioadhesion. His fundamental approaches to such complex problems have great promise to provide a strong formation for important technological advances in these areas.”
Leibler’s lecture schedule, locations, and titles are as follows. All lectures are open to the public:
- Monday, May 19, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., 310 Kelly Hall, "Self-Healing Rubbers, Super-Processable plastics and Universally Dispersible Colloids from Supramolecular Assemblies"
- Tuesday, May 20, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., 310 Kelly Hall, "Vitrimers: A New Class of Organic Materials"
- Thursday, May 22, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Fralin Auditorium, "Organ Repair, Hemostasis, and In Vivo Bonding of Medical Devices by Aqueous Solutions of Nanoparticles"
