When Matthew Tirrell came to the University of Chicago to build what would become the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME), he found “an interesting parallel” with the earliest days of his graduate career.
“When I began at UMass as a first-year PhD student in 1973, the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering had just been established a few years before,” he said. “There was a field-defining element to what was going on there that I reflected on often when I came to UChicago almost 40 years later.”
Tirrell, the founding Dean of UChicago PME, has been named the recipient of the UMass College of Natural Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award for his leadership, service, teaching, innovation, and exemplary accomplishments which have positively impacted society and science. Part of his extraordinary legacy includes his vision for building a pioneering school of molecular engineering.
“Over four decades in higher education, Dr. Tirrell has not only been a scientific pioneer in the fields of polymer and materials sciences, he has been a visionary leader for the field,” said UMass College of Natural Sciences Dean Michael A. Fox. “He has chartered new fields in molecular engineering and lead several units at different institutions to earn top national and global rankings in their respective fields. His contributions are simply unparalleled and we are incredibly proud to call him an alumnus of our Polymer Science and Engineering program.”
UChicago PME Dean Nadya Mason, who succeeded Tirrell in 2023, said the honor is well-deserved.
“Matt Tirrell’s visionary leadership not only enabled the success of UChicago PME, but helped create entirely new fields and ways of thinking about engineering,” Mason said. “I am delighted that the broader community continues to recognize his extraordinary achievements as a researcher, educator, and leader.”
Tirrell, currently the D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, said he was “pleased and surprised” upon hearing about the award.
“This recognition means a lot to me as my graduate school years there really were influential in determining the course of my career. The most important aspect of that experience was that UMass built the department by first hiring field leaders across the spectrum of polymer science. Hiring bright assistant professors came a few years later,” Tirrell said. “That’s exactly how we built UChicago PME.”
Tirrell will be honored at a recognition ceremony on Nov. 14th at UMass Amherst.