John A. Rogers

Class of 2015-16

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Sciences

The ongoing research of John A. Rogers seeks to understand and exploit interesting characteristics of “soft” materials, such as polymers, liquid crystals, and biological tissues.

His aim is to control or induce new electronic and photonic responses in these systems, with an emphasis on bioinspired designs and biointegrated devices. His research combines fundamental studies with forward-looking engineering and draws on expertise from nearly every field of technical study.

Rogers earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and physics from The University of Texas at Austin in 1989. He also received a master’s degree in both chemistry and physics in 1991 and a doctorate in physical chemistry in 1995, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1995 to 1997, Rogers was a junior fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows.

He joined Bell Laboratories as a member of the technical staff in the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department in 1997 and became director of that department in 2000.

In 2003, he moved to the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, where he holds the Swanlund Chair, the highest chaired position at the university. He has a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, with joint appointments in the departments of chemistry, bioengineering, mechanical science and engineering, and electrical and computer engineering. In addition, he serves as director of the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory.

Rogers is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Physical Society, the Materials Research Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received an honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

His recent honors include the Lemelson–MIT Prize, the Smithsonian Award for American Ingenuity in the Physical Sciences, the Robert Henry Thurston Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Mid-Career Researcher Award from the Materials Research Society, the A.C. Eringen Medal of the Society for Engineering Science, and the ETH Zurich Chemical Engineering Medal.

Rogers has published more than 500 articles in peer-reviewed journals and holds eighty patents.

As a TIAS Faculty Fellow, Rogers will collaborate with faculty–researchers and graduate students from the departments of mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and electrical and computer engineering in the Dwight Look College of Engineering. He also will collaborate with faculty–researchers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, a joint department with the College of Science and the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

For more updated information: 
http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/research-faculty/directory/profiles/rogers-john.html

Students

Mohammad Humood – 2016-17

Kian Bashandeh 2018-19