Macknight Receives Flory Polymer Education Award

William J. Macknight, Wilmer D. Barrett Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the polymer science and engineering department of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will receive the 2006 Division of Polymer Chemistry Paul J. Flory Polymer Education Award at the ACS spring 2006 national meeting in Atlanta.

MacKnight is being recognized for his contributions to polymer chemistry education and research during his 40-year tenure at UMass-Amherst. As one of the founders of the university's polymer science and engineering department, MacKnight's educational accomplishments include a 16-year tenure as department head and 11 years as coprincipal investigator of the nation's oldest operating industry-university cooperative research program. He has served as mentor to 48 Ph.D. recipients. His doctoral students are employed in industrial, government, and academic laboratories, and they hold professorships at institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

The award was established in 1981 and is sponsored by Rohm and Haas to recognize, encourage, and stimulate outstanding achievements by an individual or team in promoting undergraduate and/or graduate polymer education.