Future: Materials Science

George Whitesides is Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University.

Prof. Whitesides has been a prolific contributor to the field of materials science. He was the first to explore the intersection of molecular-scale synthesis and surface science, which led to his work on self-assembly monolayers (SAMs). The development of SAMs has led to the transformation of surface science into a much broader discipline of microfabrication and biological interactions.

Particularly significant was Prof. Whitesides’ pioneering development of soft lithography, which is now widely used for patterning non-traditional substrates. This work has also led to the development of the field of microfluidics and the fabrication of microanalytical systems.

Prof. Whitesides’ work has also opened up new domains of research in nanoscience and technology. He is one of the world’s most widely cited authors in materials science.

Whitesides has bridged the fields of chemistry, chemical engineering and biology through the development of novel functional materials and systems. He has been a mentor to numerous successful graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

George Whitesides is a winner of numerous international awards including the Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology (2003) and the National Medal of Science (1998).