Chris Macosko graduated with a chemical engineering degree from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1966. He then attended Imperial College in London and completed a master's degree under the supervision
of Ken Weale. His project, high pressure polymerization kinetics, provided his initial exposure to polymer science and engineering. Upon returning to the U.S., entered the graduate program at
Princeton University in the fall of 1967. While working under the tutelage of Bryce Maxwell, Macosko and fellow graduate student Joe Starita conceived the ideas that culminated in the development
of a new, less axially-compliant rheometer. The subsequent evolution of the Rheometrics Company (now part of TA Instruments) in the early 1970's represents one of the pivotal developments in the
field of rheometry. Chris graduated with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1970. Pushed by mentor Leon Lapidus at Princeton, and pulled by Skip Scriven, Macosko accepted a faculty position at
the University of Minnesota.
Macosko’s work addresses complex problems that couple reaction kinetics and the development of molecular architecture to multiphase morphology, as well as thermomechanical and other physical properties.
Throughout his career, rheology has played a central role: examples include the characterization of network formation during gelation, elasticity of foams, interfacial area generation in reactive blends,
the processing of thin multi-layer films and the viscoelastic character of composites.
Macosko is a fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (1997), a member of the National Academy of Engineering (2001), and a fellow of the American Physical Society (2008). He has travelled
extensively both nationally and internationally as the Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor at the Michigan Macromolecular Institute (1995), through the Science and Religion Course Program Grant
from the John Templeton Foundation (2000), and through the Davis Fellowship at the Technion in Israel (2008). Among other honors, he received the 1988 Charles M.A. Stine Award from the
American Institute of Chemical Engineering, the 1997 Pall Award for Applied Polymer Research, the 1999 Society of Plastics Engineers International Award, the 2006 Banbury Award from the Rubber
Division of the American Chemical Society, and the 2008 Society of Polymer Science Japan (SPSJ) International Award. Additionally, papers he coauthored were awarded the Journal of Rheology
Publication Award in both 2004 and 2007, and he was inducted into the Berea High School Hall of Fame in April 2004. He was awarded the Society’s
Bingham Medal in 2004.
Sources
Macosko, Christopher Ward. American Men and Women of Science, 27th ed.; Gale: Farmington Hills, MI, 2010; Vol. 5.
Chris Macosko.
Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Minnesota (accessed Jul 31, 2019).
Note: This biography is an adaptation of the following article previously published by The Society of Rheology.
Chris Macosko Named 2004 Bingham Medalist. Rheology Bulletin 2004, 73(2).