Biography
Dr. Richard J. Spontak is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science & Engineering and Alumni Distinguished Graduate and Undergraduate Professor at NC State University. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering (with honors/high distinction) from Penn State University in 1983 and was awarded his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 1988. He then pursued post-doctoral research in Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) and Condensed Matter Physics at the Institute for Energy Technology (Norway) before joining the Corporate Research Division of the Procter & Gamble Company in 1990. In 1992, he accepted a faculty position at NC State University, where he supervises the Macromolecular Materials & Morphology Group. Since that time, Spontak has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 35 scholarly works as book chapters and invited monographs, and his work has been featured on 31 journal covers and cited over 14,000 times according to Google Scholar. Although active in a diverse range of disciplines, his primary research interests relate to the phase behavior and morphology/property development of nanostructured polymers, polymer nanocomposites and coatings, electron microscopy, and stimuli-responsive soft materials. In recognition of his research endeavors at NC State University, he is the recipient of the university-level Alexander Q. Holladay Medal for Excellence, the Alcoa Foundation Engineering Achievement and Distinguished Engineering Research Awards, the Alumni Outstanding Research Award, and the Global Engagement Award. In addition, he has received the ACS (PMSE Division) Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings and the Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science & Engineering, the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, International Award, the German Society for Electron Microscopy Ernst Ruska Prize, the ACS (Rubber Division) Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Colwyn Medal, the Norwegian University of Science & Technology Lars Onsager Professorship and Medal, the Society of Plastics Engineers International Award, the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society Distinguished Alumnus Award, and the 2021 International Association of Advanced Materials Researcher of the Year Award. An elected fellow of the American Physical Society, IOM3, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the American Chemical Society PMSE Division, he is or has been on the editorial advisory board of more than 20 international journals and holds editorial positions on 3 of them. He has been recognized as an Outstanding Scholar Alumnus and an Alumni Fellow by Penn State University, and he is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences and the NC State University Research Leadership, Global Engagement and Outstanding Teaching Academies. Spontak is also a highly acclaimed educator and academic mentor and has received college- and alumni-level Outstanding Teaching Awards, as well as the university-level Board of Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. A recipient of the American Society for Engineering Education Southeast Region Outstanding Mid-Career Teaching Award, he has served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist and has been elected to the NC State Faculty Senate and the UNC Faculty Assembly.