Donald A. Tomalia (born September 5, 1938) is an American chemist who is known as one of the early discoverers of dendrimers.

Biography

Tomalia earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, a master's degree from Bucknell University and a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. He worked at

Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastics ...

for many years as a research scientist. In 1979, Tomalia created synthetic particles known as dendrimers, which have been used in nanotechnology and pharmaceuticals. In 1992, Tomalia founded his own company, Dendritech. The company was purchased by Dow Chemical a few years later. Tomalia was the scientific director of the Center for Biologic Nanotechnology at the University of Michigan Medical School. In 2001, Tomalia started Dendritic NanoTechnologies at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

; Starpharma of Australia provided seed money for the venture and Dow took an equity position a few years later. In 2010, Tomalia founded NanoSynthons, LLC, in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. In 2016, he was named a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. He has been named a

Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate Clarivate Citation Laureates formerly Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates is a list of candidates considered likely to win the Nobel Prize in their respective field. The candidates are so named based on the citation impact of their published resear ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomalia, Donald Living people 1938 births 21st-century American chemists University of Michigan alumni Bucknell University alumni Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science