Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair of Advanced and Nanostructured Materials, has been awarded the Society of Polymer Science Japan International Prize; the highest honor given by the society to polymer scientist international colleagues.

The SPSJ International Award was established in 1994 to honor the merits of international contributors to the SPSJ. The award has been given to foreign polymeric scientists and others who have contributed to the field of basic and applied sciences of polymer science and engineering for many years and have remarkable accomplishment of exchanges with Japan. The nominee must be a person who is age 55 or older.

Advincula is one of four honorees for the 2023 class. He is joined by Jae-Suke Lee of the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (South Korea), Bruno Amerduri of the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (France), and Suwabun Chirachanchai of Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).

The award ceremony will be held at the SPSJ annual meeting in Sendai, Japan on June 5–7. Advincula will be delivering an honorary lecture at the meeting titled, Design and Synthesis of Nanostructured Polymers and Layered Materials.

“I am very honored of the International Prize by SPSJ as a testament on the internationalism of science,” Advincula said. “It also brings in mind the years of collaborations and friendship with my Japanese colleagues and students. We have had a number of publications together. Visiting Japan has always been a special treat.”

Contact

Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)