Krzysztof "Kris" Matyjaszewski (; born April 8, 1950) is a Polish-American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. He is the J.C. Warner Professor of the Natural Sciences at the

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

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. Matyjaszewski was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 2006 and the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2019 for expanding the capabilities of controlled/living polymerizations and developing ATRP, a robust catalytic process for the radical polymerization of monomers. He received the prestigious Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2011, the Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences in 2015, and the Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, France in 2020, and the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences in 2023.

Education and career

Matyjaszewski began studying chemistry at Lodz University of Technology in late 1960s and later graduated from the Petrochemical University in Moscow. He received his doctorate from the Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

in 1976 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in 1977. From 1978 to 1984, he was a research associate of the

. From 1984 to 1985, Matyjaszewski held appointments at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, first as a research associate and then as a visiting professor. In 1985, he joined the chemistry department at

. 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 The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

. 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. Matyjaszewski is also an adjunct professor in Carnegie Mellon's department of materials science and chemical 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 and has comprised 60 industrial members. The same year, Matyjaszewski became an adjunct professor at

and at the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. Matyjaszewski is a co-inventor on 72 issued U.S. patented technologies and holds over 150 international patents. One of the leading educators in the field of polymer chemistry, Matyjaszewski has mentored more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students since joining Carnegie Mellon. He has co-authored 25 books, 100 book chapters and more than 1300 peer-reviewed scientific papers. According to Google Scholar, his work has been cited in the scientific literature more than 203,000 times, with an h-index of 214, making him one of the most cited chemists in the world. Matyjaszewski has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2023 National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences, 2020 Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, France, 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, 2017 Medema Lecture Award, 2015 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences, 2014 National Institute of Materials Science (Japan) Award, 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 The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

(ACS) with the 2002 Polymer Chemistry Award, 2011 Applied Polymer Science Award, 2011 Herman Mark Award, 2015 Charles G. Overberger Prize, 2019 Chemistry of Materials Award, 2020 Paul Flory Polymer Education Award and 2020 Nichols Medal. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Inventors, as well as a member of the Polish, Australian and European Academies of Sciences. He also is an honorary member of the Israeli and Chinese Chemical Societies. Matyjaszewski's work has been recognized in his native country of Poland. In 2004, he received the annual Prize of the Foundation for 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

. He received honorary degrees from Polish universities Lodz University of Technology in 2007, Poznań University in 2016 an
Rzeszow University of Technology
in 2024. He has also received honorary degrees from the Technion, Israel, the University of Ghent, Belgium,

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, Greece, Polytechnic Institute in Toulouse, France, Pusan National University in South Korea., Universite P. & M. Curie, Sorbonne in Paris, University of Padua, Italy, University of Coimbra, Portugal an
University of Crete
Greece.

Awards and honors

*1974 Award of the Scientific Secretary of the

*1980 Award of the Polish Chemical Society *1981 Award of the

*1989 Presidential Young Investigator Award,

*1995 Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award,

*1998 Elf Chair of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

*1999 Humboldt Prize for Senior Scientists *2001 Fellow, Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Fellow,

*2001 Pittsburgh Award, American Chemical Society *2002 Polymer Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society *2004 Cooperative Research Award, American Chemical Society *2004 Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science *2005 Chair, Gordon Research Conference, Polymer East *2005 Foreign Member,

*2005 Macro Group Medal,

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

*2006 Member,

*2007 Herman Mark Senior Scholar Award,

*2008 Clarivate Citation Laureate *2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award *2010 Fellow,

Polymer Chemistry Division *2010 Gutenberg Award, University of Mainz *2011 Fellow,

*2011 Applied Polymer Science Award, American Chemical Society *2011 Japanese Society Polymer Science Award *2011 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, with Stuart Alan Rice of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and Ching W. Tang of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

*2012 Dannie-Heineman Prize, Göttingen Academy of Sciences *2012 Société Chimique de France Prize *2012 Marie Curie Medal, Polish Chemical Society *2013 Madison Marshall Award,

, Alabama Section *2013 Inaugural Akzo Nobel North America Science Award, American Chemical Society *2014 Fellow,

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

*2014 National Institute for Materials Science (Japan) Award *2015 The Charles Overberger Prize (ACS) *2015 The Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences *2017 Franklin Institute Award in Chemistry *2019 Member,

*2019 Corresponding member,

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

*2019 Chemistry of Materials Award,

*2020 Fellow, European Academy of Sciences *2020 Paul Flory Polymer Education Award,

*2020 William H. Nichols Medal, ACS New York Section *2020 Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie *2022 CNRS Ambassador of Chemical Sciences in France *2023 National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences

Honorary degrees

*2002 – University of Ghent, Belgium *2006 –

*2007 – Lodz University of Technology, Poland *2008 –

, Greece *2010 – l'Institut Polytechnique, Toulouse, France *2013 – Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea *2013 – Universite P. & M. Curie, Sorbonne, Paris, France *2015 – Technion, Haifa, Israel *2016 – Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poznań, Poland *2017 –

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

, Padua, Italy *2018 –

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

, Coimbra, Portugal *2023 – University of Crete, Greece *2024 – Rzeszow University of Technology in 2024

Visiting professorships

* ESPCI ParisTech, 2011 * University of Pusan, 2010 * Lodz University of Technology, 2009 *

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, Fellow of the Japanese Society of the Promotion of Science, 2005 *

, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2005 *

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

, 1996, 2004 * Michigan Molecular Institute, 2004 * University of Pisa, Italy, 2000 * University of Ulm, 1999 *

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, 1992
University of Beyreuth
1991 *

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, 1988

References

External links