Dr. Alamgir Karim has been named the Goodyear Chair in Polymer Engineering in The University of Akron's College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. Karim, a national expert in nanotechnology, will begin his endowed professorship in November.
Karim comes to UA from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD, where he was the group leader overseeing nanostructured materials in NIST's polymers division. Since he joined NIST in 1993, Karim also served as a physicist specializing in polymer thin-film blends and processing; as leader of the polymer division's combinatorial and high-throughput methods group; and as National Nanotechnology Initiative liaison for the NIST director, among other roles.
Preeminent polymer program
Karim says UA's world-class polymer program and the visionary leadership of its dean, Dr. Stephen Cheng, attracted him to the university.
"The University of Akron is one of the preeminent polymer programs worldwide. It has made tremendous contributions to nanotechnology and biotechnology, and it is paving the way for major medical and industrial breakthroughs," Karim says. "Dean Cheng's vision captured my interest. The university has the structure, support, research tools and people essential to be on a growth curve. There is just a feeling of a dynamic research and teaching environment here."
Among his accomplishments, Karim has published 120 refereed papers, is a Fellow of The American Physical Society and a recipient of the NIST Bronze medal and Department of Commerce Silver medal award.
"The university is pleased to welcome Dr. Karim to this distinguished position, which has been endowed by a highly significant benefactor, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company," says Cheng, dean of UA's College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.
UA's polymer science and polymer engineering program is the nation's largest single center of polymer education, and is ranked ahead of such highly regarded universities as M.I.T. and Caltech. The college's faculty include winners of the highest national and international honors bestowed for achievement in the polymer field, including members of the National Academy of Engineering, the Polymer Chemistry Award and the Applied Polymer Science Award from the American Chemical Society, the Polymer Physics Prize and John H. Dillon Medal from the Polymer Physics Division of the American Physical Society, the Bingham Medal from the Society of Rheology, the Charles Goodyear Medal and George Stafford Whitby Award from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society, Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and other national and international professional societies.