Dr. Roger S. Porter was born in Windom, Minnesota in 1928. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California Los Angeles in 1950 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from
the University of Washington, Seattle in 1956. George H. Cady, a pioneer in fluorine chemistry, served as his graduate advisor, and this influence helped shape his future
research interests. After graduation, he worked as a Senior Research Associate at the Chevron Research Company in Richmond, California where he contributed to work on cholesteric
liquid crystals, binary phase diagrams, and other innovative topics in polymer science. Porter moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in 1966 after being offered a faculty position at
the University of Massachusetts where he stayed until retiring in 1997. Over the course of his thirty-year career there, he served as professor, chairman, and director of the
Materials Research Institute.
In addition to Porter’s work at the University of Massachusetts, he served as Visiting Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1972 and Visiting Professor
at the University of London, Queen Mary College from 1972 to 1973. Porter also served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi beginning in 1983. Meanwhile,
Porter continued research in polymer science, exploring topics such as the characterization and rheology of liquid crystals and the fundamentals of polyethylene fiber formation.
One particularly striking example of his work is the development of oriented polymer fiber strands that are ten times stronger than steel yet more flexible.
Beyond achievements in research, Porter contributed to the professional community through his service as science advisor to Lee Iacocca at Chrysler, his role as editor of the
journals Polymer Composites and Polymer Engineering and Science, and his mentoring of over twenty-five doctoral students. Additionally, he initiated, as well
as co-directed, the National Science Foundation Materials Research Laboratory at Amherst.
The results of Porter’s research and studies can now be found in his more than four-hundred scientific articles, two books, numerous book chapters, and patents. His many
accomplishments have been recognized through such honors as selection for the Mettler Award from the North American Thermal Analysis Society, the International Award from the
Society of Plastics Engineers, the Paul J. Flory Award in Polymer Education from the American Chemical Society, and the Bingham Medal from The Society of Rheology as well as
induction into the Plastics Hall of Fame.
Sources
1985 Bingham Medalist, Roger S. Porter. Rheology Bulletin 1985, 54(2).
Also in Society of Rheology Miscellaneous Publications, Box 6, Folder 45. Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740.
UMass Professor Emeritus Roger Porter, First Head of Polymer Science and Engineering Dept., Dies at Age 70. UMass Amherst News & Media Relations August 26, 1998.
Roger S. Porter.
Umass.edu. UMass Amherst.
Weiss, Robert A. et al. In memoriam: Julian F. Johnson and Roger S. Porter.
Wiley Online Library. April 8, 2004.
George, E. R. In Memoriam: Roger S. Porter 1928-1998
Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals 2004, 414, 87–125.
Roger S. Porter. Plastics Hall of Fame.
(accessed Jun 7, 2019).