Stuart Rowan is the Barry L. MacLean Professor of Molecular Engineering and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.
Prof. Rowan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and grew up in Troon, Ayrshire, on Scotland’s west coast. He received his BSc (Hons.) in Chemistry in 1991 from the University of Glasgow and stayed there for graduate school in the laboratory of Dr. David D. MacNicol, receiving his PhD in 1995. In 1994 he moved to the chemistry department at the University of Cambridge to work with Prof. Jeremy K. M. Sanders FRS. He moved across the Atlantic, and the continental U.S., to continue his postdoctoral studies with Prof. Sir J. Fraser Stoddart FRS at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998. In 1999 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor to the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2005, and became a Full Professor in 2008. In 2016, he joined the Institute for Molecular Engineering (now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. He also has a staff appointment in the Chemical and Engineering Science (CSE) Division at Argonne National Laboratory.
He is a National Science Foundation CAREER awardee, received the Morley Medal (Cleveland ACS) in 2013, the CWRU Distinguished University Award in 2015, and the Herman Mark Scholar Award (ACS) in 2015. He is an ACS Fellow, an ACS POLY Fellow, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Macro Letters (https://pubs.acs.org/journal/amlccd ), and is on the editorial advisory board for a number of journals.
He has published over 170 scientific papers and reviews. His research interests focus on the use of dynamic chemistry (covalent and non-covalent) in the construction and properties of structurally dynamic and adaptive polymeric materials. The current interests of his group span responsive polymers, sustainable materials, polymers for energy, biomaterials, and new polymer synthesis. Specifically, his group works on supramolecular polymers, dynamic covalent polymers, self-healing materials, responsive adhesives, metal-containing polymers, gels, biomaterials, cellulose nanocrystal/nanocellulose, and interlocked polymeric architectures.
Rowan Group focuses on studying the chemistry of non-covalent interactions (supramolecular chemistry). This is embodied by studying the synthesis of metallosupramolecular and stimuli-resonsive polymers; isolation and utilization of cellulose nanocrystals in biomimetic and porous systems; and finally, reversible covalent chemistry.
Synthesis and Characterization of Block Copolymers for Nanolithography Based on Thiol-Ene “Click” Functionalized Polystyrene-Block-Polybutadiene
Hongbo Feng, Moshe Dolejsi, Ning Zhu, Philip J. Griffin,Gordon S. W. Craig, Wen Chen,Stuart J. Rowan, Paul F. Nealey, Adv. Funct. Mater.2022, 2206836
Immunostimulatory Polymers as Adjuvants, Immunotherapies, and Delivery Systems
Adam M. Weiss, Samir Hossainy, Stuart J. Rowan, Jeffrey A. Hubbell, and Aaron P. Esser-Kahn, Macromolecules 2022, 55, 16, 6913–6937
Polycatenanes: synthesis, characterization, and physical understanding
Guancen Liu, Phillip M Rauscher, Benjamin W Rawe, Marissa M Tranquilli, Stuart J Rowan, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2022,51, 4928-4948
The effect of polymer grafting on the mechanical properties of PEG-grafted cellulose nanocrystals in poly(lactic acid)
Nicholas Macke, Christina M. Hemmingsen, Stuart J. Rowan, J. Polym. Sci. 2022, 1
Metastable doubly threaded [3]rotaxanes with a large macrocycle
Jerald E. Hertzog, Vincent J. Maddi,Laura F. Hart, Benjamin W. Rawe, Phillip M. Rauscher, Katie M. Herbert, Eric P. Bruckner, c Juan J. de Pablo and Stuart J. Rowan. Chem. Sci. (2022), 13, 5333-5344
Synthesis and Characterization of Redox-Responsive Disulfide Cross-Linked Polymer Particles for Energy Storage Applications
Garrett L. Grocke, Hongyi Zhang, Samuel S. Kopfinger, Shrayesh N. Patel, and Stuart J. Rowan
ACS Macro Letters 2021 10 (12), 1637-1642
Effect of Graft Molecular Weight and Density on the Mechanical Properties of Polystyrene-Grafted Cel
James H. Lettow, Han Yang, Paul F. Nealey and Stuart J. Rowan. Macromolecules 2021, 54, 10594−10604
Nanocomposites Assembled via Electrostatic Interactions between Cellulose Nanocrystals and a Cationic Polymer
Visuta Engkagul, Chris Rader, Nanetta Pon, Stuart J Rowan, Christoph Weder. Biomacromolecules 2021, 22, 12, 5087–5096
Ten Years of ACS Macro Letters
Stuart J. Rowan. ACS Macro Lett. 2021, 10, 9, 1132–1137
Controlling the Morphology of Dynamic Thia-Michael Networks to Target Pressure-Sensitive and Hot Melt Adhesives
Katie M Herbert, Neil D Dolinski, Nicholas R Boynton, Julia G Murphy, Charlie A Lindberg, SJ Sibener, Stuart J Rowan. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 23, 27471–27480