Hiroshi Watanabe

Kyoto University

Polymer Chemist

Awarded Bingham Medal 2015

Fellow, Elected 2015

Hiroshi Watanabe is a Professor at the Institute of Chemical Research of Kyoto University in Japan. He received a B.S. in 1979, a M.S. in 1981, and a Ph.D. in 1985, all from Osaka University in the Department of Macromolecular Science. Upon receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Watanabe was promoted to Assistant Professor in the same laboratory where he worked in as a student. From 1987 to 1989 he worked at the University of Minnesota as a visiting scientist. In 1994 he accepted the position of Associate Professor, to work with Professor Kunihiro Osaki, at the Institute of Chemical Research of Kyoto University. In 2003 he succeeded Osaki as a Professor and has remained with the Institute of Chemical Research since, where he served as Vice-Director from 2008 to 2012.

Dr. Watanabe has made significant contributions to the field of polymer rheology. His early work involved exploration of the linear and non-linear response of ordered block copolymer solutions. He conducted groundbreaking experiments that preceded the popularization of the topic today. He has also studied both miscible and immiscible polymer blends, model star and comb polymers, suspensions, gels, micelles, and liquid crystals. However, Dr. Watanabe’s most noteworthy contributions to rheology are his insights into the mechanisms by which entangled polymers relax stress. Many of the recent theoretical developments to the concepts of molecular theory and polymer rheology have been motivated by the experimental approach Dr. Watanabe exemplifies: his measurements have been carefully crafted to test important assumptions at the most fundamental level.

Dr. Watanabe has served as an at-large member of the Executive Committee of The Society of Rheology. He is currently the President of the Society of Rheology, Japan. In this capacity, he was responsible for organizing the 2016 International Congress on Rheology, held in Kyoto. Additionally, since 2012 he has served as an Associate Editor for Macromolecules. For his contributions to rheology, Dr. Watanabe has received several awards and recognitions. He received the Research Award from the Society of Rheology, Japan, in 1994; the Award from the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, in 2008; the Award of the Society of Rheology, Japan, in 2012, and the Bingham Medal of The Society of Rheology in 2015. He was elected to Fellowship in the American Physical Society in 2005.