Charles Michael Roland (22 April 1952 - 2 October 2021) was Head of the Polymer Physics Section at the

Naval Research Lab The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

in Washington DC from 1989 to 2015. His research was concerned primarily with the dynamics of

condensed matter Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

, including

polymers A polymer (; Greek ''poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic an ...

and

liquid crystals Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. The ...

, with applications to military armor and infrastructure protection. He is noted for his development of elastomeric coatings for blast protection, and for diverse accomplishments in the field of elastomer science. From 1991-1999, he served as the 8th editor of the scientific journal Rubber Chemistry and Technology, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (UK). C. Michael Roland, 2012 Charles Goodyear Medalist, Rubber Chemistry and Technology, vol. 85, G2, 2012.

Personal

Roland was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He went by his middle name Michael to avoid confusion at home, as his father was also named Charles. He had one sister. His father worked for the post office after dropping out of school during the depression after the eighth grade. As a youth, Roland knew he wanted to go into science. He had a chemistry set and tried to make gunpowder. He enjoyed basketball and chose his undergraduate college in part for the opportunity to play, turning more to his studies after a knee injury.

Education

Roland received his BS in Chemistry at Grove City College in 1974. He was late applying to graduate school, and so for a short time he worked as a lab instructor at a community college teaching chemistry. He soon was accepted to graduate school at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

working under advisor William A. Steele. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1980. In his final year of grad school, he interviewed for jobs with Firestone, DuPont and American Cyanamid.

Career

In 1981, Roland was recruited to Firestone's Central Research Labs by Georg Bohm, who persuaded Roland with an offer to work on long term research projects. Roland enjoyed his research and continued at Firestone until 1986, when due to poor economic conditions in the automotive sector and to R&D cuts in the aftermath of the Firestone 500 recall, he decided to seek employment elsewhere. He soon won a position with the

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

. His first project looked at thermodynamically miscible blends of 1-4

polyisoprene Polyisoprene is strictly speaking a collective name for polymers that are produced by polymerization of isoprene. In practice polyisoprene is commonly used to refer to synthetic ''cis''-1,4-polyisoprene, made by the industrial polymerisation of i ...

and 1-2

polybutadiene Polybutadiene utadiene rubber BRis a synthetic rubber. Polybutadiene rubber is a polymer formed from the polymerization of the monomer 1,3-butadiene. Polybutadiene has a high resistance to wear and is used especially in the manufacture of ti ...

. He worked on blast protection and on elastomer networks. During his career he produced 22 patents. He retired from NRL in 2020.

Awards

* 1991 - Sparks-Thomas award of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society * 2002 -

Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award The Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award is a professional award conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1983, the award is named after Melvin Mooney, developer of the Mooney viscometer and of the Moon ...

of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society * 2002 - Sigma Xi Award for Pure Science * 2012 -

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society * 2019 - Colwyn Medal Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (UK)

References

Polymer scientists and engineers {{US-scientist-stub