Eric Baer, (born Erich Bär; July 18, 1932) is an American scientist and engineer known for his major research and educational contributions to polymer science and engineering. He is a leading pioneer in understanding the complex relationships between solid state structure, processing, and properties of
polymeric materials and systems.
Baer was born in , Hesse, Germany on July 18, 1932.
He was raised as an only child in a Jewish home by his parents, Arthur and Erna Baer (née Kraemer). His father and his father's brother, Julius, owned a clothing and accessory store in Butzbach, Hessen, which was closed by the Nazis around 1937. Arthur was taken to the
Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...
concentration camp during
Kristallnacht
( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
, the evening of November 8, 1938, and was luckily released in June, 1939, since the family had received permission to emigrate immediately to England. They traveled by boat from
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
and arrived in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
on August 28, 1939. The family was taken to London and survived the blitz. Baer was evacuated north to
Dunstable,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
in December 1940.
In 1956 Baer married Ana Golender, who was both a chemist and homemaker. Ana and Eric had two children, Lisa and Michelle, both of whom pursued professional careers, in law and medicine respectively. Ana died in 1995 after a long illness and in 1999, Baer married Professor
Ann Hiltner, a long time professional colleague. Hiltner, the first female chaired professor in the School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, passed away in 2010. In 2016, Baer married Jane Glaubinger. Jane served for many years as the Curator of Prints and Drawings at the
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...
and is now retired.
Baer's formal education began in the early spring of 1941 after the family's move to England when he was approaching nine years of age. He entered elementary school and was placed in classes with six-year-old children. He quickly skipped grades and was accepted into the prestigious
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
Dunstable Grammar School in the autumn if 1942. It was during his time at Dunstable Grammar School that his interest in science was stimulated. Baer and his parents moved to the United States in December, 1947. There they joined a large number of relatives who had the good fortune to leave Germany prior to the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Baer graduated from
Baltimore City College (high school) in 1949. In 1951, Baer entered graduate school at
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
majoring in organic chemistry. His first research was on the synthesis of intermediate compounds to mimic naturally occurring strained ring structures. After earning his M.A. in 1953, he was attracted by an opportunity in rapid heat transfer kinetics by dropwise condensation, and transferred to the
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
School of Engineering majoring in chemical engineering. Baer earned a Doctor of Engineering degree in 1957 and immediately joined E. I.
DuPont
Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to:
People
* Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...
Polychemicals Division, at the Experimental Station in
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...
. He had no previous education or exposure to the field of polymer science and engineering. While at DuPont he learned for the first time the many aspects of
polymer science
Polymer science or macromolecular science is a subfield of materials science concerned with polymers, primarily synthetic polymers such as plastics and elastomers. The field of polymer science includes researchers in multiple disciplines inclu ...
and
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
concentrating mainly on structure property relationships and small scale processing. This education in an advanced industrial setting served as the foundation for the remainder of his scientific career.
In 1962 he joined the engineering faculty at
Case Institute of Technology
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
(which is now
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
.) His goal at CWRU was to develop a major program in advanced polymer education and research which, under his leadership, became the curren
Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering Today, Baer serves at CWRU as Distinguished University Professor and holds the Herbert Henry Dow Chair in Science and Engineering. Currently he is also the Director of CLiPS, th
Center for Layered Polymeric Systems.
Over the last twenty years, Baer has led a large team in the creation o
polymer layered systems Focus on bot
micro and nanolayered structureshas inspired the development of nove
gradient index lensesand superior layered
dielectric
In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an Insulator (electricity), electrical insulator that can be Polarisability, polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric ...
films for energy storage. Today, new layered systems are being developed under his direction for uses in food packaging, ballistic resistant layered structures, and security features.
Awards
Among his other notable awards, in 2018, he received the
Charles Goodyear Medal
The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society#Organization, American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, ...
of the ACS Rubber Division; he also received the James L. White Innovation Award (2016), and the William A. Fowler Award (2015). In 2014, he was received the Paul J. Flory Research Prize at the PolyChar World Forum in Advanced Materials, and in 2000, was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame. In 1996, he received the Paul J. Flory Polymer Education Award, he also was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
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 ...
(1993), and in 1991, he received the International Education Award from the Society of Plastics Engineers.
Selected publications
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References
External links
CWRU HomepageCWRU Department of Macromolecular Science and EngineeringCenter for Layered Polymeric SystemsMicro and nano-layered structuresNovel gradient index lensesEntry in the Plastics Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baer, Eric
1932 births
Living people
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Case Western Reserve University faculty
Baltimore City College alumni
American polymer scientists and engineers
Emigrants from Nazi Germany
Immigrants to the United States