Christopher Kemper Ober (born November 1, 1954) is an American/Canadian materials scientist and engineer. , he is Francis Norwood Bard Professor of Materials Engineering at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and Director of the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility. Among other posts at Cornell, he has served as Interim Cornell Dean of Engineering (January 2009-July 2010) and Director of the Cornell Department of Materials Science & Engineering (January 2000-December 2003). Ober was awarded a B.Sc. degree in 1978 by the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

(Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), with a major in Honors Chemistry (Co-Operative Program). He received his M.S. (1980) and Ph.D. (1982) degrees in Polymer Science & Engineering from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

(Amherst). Ober is an Elected 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 ...

, a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

,a Fellow of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

and an Elected Member of the Executive Committee of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

. He serves on the editorial boards of Polymer Bulletin, Polymers for Advanced Technologies, and Green Materials. From 1995 to 2010 he was an associate editor of

Macromolecules A macromolecule is a very large molecule important to biophysical processes, such as a protein or nucleic acid. It is composed of thousands of covalently bonded atoms. Many macromolecules are polymers of smaller molecules called monomers. The ...

. He has directed more than 40 Cornell Ph.D. dissertations, has co-authored or co-edited eight books or reports, has co-authored more than 400 refereed articles, and shares more than 40 patents. Ober's research interests center in the synthesis, processing, and characterization of functional polymers with tailored nano- and molecular architectures for targeted properties. Detailed evaluation of polymer behavior for the design of superior macromolecular materials includes synchrotron-based characterization. Synthetic tools include living polymerization methods such as anionic, ATRP and living radical polymerization. Of special interest are systems that undergo "bottom-up" self-organization/assembly, including liquid crystalline polymers and block copolymers as well as "top down" lithographic materials. Environmentally and biologically friendly materials are now a major focus of research.

References

Living people Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Physical Society Cornell University faculty American materials scientists 21st-century American engineers 1954 births Canadian materials scientists {{US-engineer-stub