Kathryn L. Beers is an American

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

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 ...

. Beers is Leader of the

Polymers A polymer () is a substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, b ...

and

Complex Fluids Complex fluids are mixtures that have a coexistence between two phases: solid–liquid ( suspensions or solutions of macromolecules such as polymers), solid–gas (granular), liquid–gas (foams) or liquid–liquid (emulsions). They exhibit unusu ...

group in the Materials Science and Engineering Division at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

. Her research interests include microreactors and

microfluidics Microfluidics refers to a system that manipulates a small amount of fluids (10−9 to 10−18 liters) using small channels with sizes of ten to hundreds of micrometres. It is a multidisciplinary field that involves molecular analysis, molecular bi ...

, advances in polymer synthesis and reaction monitoring, macromolecular separations, integrated and high throughput measurements of polymeric materials, degradable and renewable polymeric materials, and sustainable materials.

Early life and education

Beers is a native of the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. She completed a B.S. in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

in 1994. Her Honors College undergraduate thesis was titled ''The effects of deuteration of ferromagnetic properties: a study of single crystal Fe ₂CN(C₂D₅)₂sub>2Cl''. In 1996, she earned an M.S. in polymer science at

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 ...

. She completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at Carnegie Mellon in 2000. She worked with professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski. Her dissertation was titled ''Design, synthesis and properties of comb copolymers with variable grafting density by controlled radical polymerization''. From 2000 to 2002, she was a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow in the Polymers Division at the

(NIST).

Career

From 2002 to 2007, Beers was a research chemist and project leader in the polymer formulations at the NIST Combinatorial Methods Center (NCMC) in the Polymers Division at NIST. Beers was the Assistant Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering in the

Office of Science and Technology Policy The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congres ...

(OSTP) from 2007 to 2008. While at OSTP, Beers oversaw a portfolio including the

Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in ...

Science Mission Directorate The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the six directorates that constitute NASA. Its responsibility is to define and direct research into scientific questions of interest, shari ...

, and portions of 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 ...

. She worked to coordinate inter-agency and international cooperation and interaction with the physical science field. She was the director of the NIST Combinatorial Methods Center (NCMC) from 2008 to 2009. From 2008 to 2012, she was a Project Leader of the Renewable Polymers project, and Group Leader of the Sustainable Polymers Group. Since 2013, Beers serves as Group Leader of the Polymers and Complex Fluids group in the Materials Science and Engineering Division at NIST. Beers became a member of 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) in 1993. She has served as secretary of the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry and served in the POLY Chair series from 2012 to 2017. She became a member of the

Materials Research Society The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit, professional organization for materials researchers, scientists and engineers. Established in 1973, MRS is a member-driven organization of approximately 13,000 materials researchers from academi ...

in 2001 and

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

in 2004. She is also a member of the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

Research

Beers researches microreactors and microfluidics, advances in polymer synthesis and reaction monitoring, macromolecular separations, integrated and high throughput measurements of polymeric materials, degradable and renewable polymeric materials, and sustainable materials.

Awards and honors

In 2005, Beers was awarded the

Department of Commerce Silver Medal The awards and decorations of the United States Department of Commerce are Awards and decorations of the United States government, civil awards and decorations which are presented to civilian and uniformed personnel of the U.S. Department of Commer ...

. She was a 2006 Department of Commerce Science and Technology Policy (ComSci) fellow. In 2007, she received the

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. T ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beers, Kathryn Living people 21st-century American chemists American women chemists 20th-century American chemists National Institute of Standards and Technology people Women materials scientists and engineers American materials scientists College of William & Mary alumni Carnegie Mellon University alumni Office of Science and Technology Policy officials American polymer scientists and engineers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women scientists