Timothy E. Long receives 2010 Alumni Award for Excellence in Research
Timothy E. Long, professor of chemistry in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, received the university's 2010 Alumni Award for Excellence in Research.
Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the Alumni Award for Excellence in Research is presented annually to as many as two Virginia Tech faculty members who have made outstanding research contributions. Alumni, students, faculty, and staff may nominate candidates. Each recipient is awarded $2,000.
Long joined the Department of Chemistry in 1998 after spending a combined 10 years at Kodak and Eastman Chemical Company. During his industrial career, Long served as a program manager involving diverse teams of scientists and engineers for the development of novel product concepts and for the commercialization of new products for imaging and packaging technologies.
Since his arrival to Virginia Tech, Long has assembled an international group of researchers (currently 20 researchers) who are focused on the synthesis, physical characterization, and performance of high performance polymeric materials for emerging technologies. His current research interests are focused on the design of ion-containing polymers and polyelectrolytes with a recent emphasis on ionic liquid monomers and solvents.
He heads several National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Defense centers of excellence. He currently co-directs a NSF-sponsored integrated graduate education and research training program, which involves 35 graduate student traineeships and more than 15 faculty, focused on macromolecular interfaces with life sciences.
In addition, he serves as a co-director of an Army Research Office sponsored Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) dealing with the discovery of ionic liquids for electro-active devices, which has immediate impact on the proposed research program due to the focus on charged polymers and ionic guests. Long also was responsible for the leadership of an earlier MURI dealing with the design of macromolecular architectures for performance with an emphasis on rheological and mechanical performance.
He currently directs an Army Research Laboratory sponsored materials center of excellence dealing with multilayered structures and composites, which also offer immediate relevance due to the role of polyurethanes in multilayer structures.
In total, these four research centers have resulted in approximately $20 million of research funding to the university.
Long has authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications including 25 book chapters. He was recently invited to serve as the associate director of the university's Fralin Life Science Institute and he is responsible for cultivating interdisciplinary research and education in the life sciences across the campus. Long was recognized in the inaugural class of the American Chemical Society Fellows in 2009.
He received his bachelor's degree from St. Bonaventure University and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.
