Michigan Molecular Institute (MMI) ceased operations in 2015 after nearly 45 years of outstanding service in pursuit of applied research in polymer science and technology.
Michigan Molecular Institute (MMI) ceased operations in 2015 after nearly 45 years of outstanding service in pursuit of applied research in polymer science and technology.
MMI officially opened its doors under the name Midland Macromolecular Institute in the fall of 1972, although the facility had been in operation for the previous year. The building had broken ground in the spring of 1970, and it, like many of Midland's buildings from that era, was designed by local architect Alden B. Dow. The institute hosted a three-day dedication beginning September 28, 1972 with opening ceremonies that featured more than 400 scientists from throughout the world, chamber music from the Cleveland Quartet, several presentations and public tours. [1] The featured speakers for the ceremonies were Dr. Herman Francis Mark, considered by many to be the father of macromolecular sciences, and Dr. Paul J. Flory, who two years later would be awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Two other speakers were Prof. Dr. Donald Lyman and Prof. Dr. Edgar Andrews. Other notable attendees included Dr. Melvin Calvin, the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry; Dr. Charles Overberger, then the vice-president for research at the University of Michigan; and Herbert D. "Ted" Doan, president of the Michigan Foundation for Advanced Research, which was MMI's primary financial backer in its early days.
MMI's first director was Dr. H.G. Elias, who came to Midland from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Beyond funding from MFAR, early financial supporters of MMI were the Herbert H. & Grace A. Dow Foundation, The Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation and the Charles J. Strosacker Foundation. In the institute's early days, Elias said MMI would be run much like a university department, although its founders expected MMI would advance macromolecular science knowledge in a way that universities could not. [2] One similarity: MMI opened its doors as a not-for-profit organization, which it remains today.
MMI's first 15 years of research of advanced composite materials and polymer technology contributed to Michigan's ability to entice plastics- and composite-related industries to build in the state, and its affiliation with Central Michigan University and Michigan Technological University allowed it to offer master's and doctorate degrees in related research fields. [3] In the early 1990s, MMI began to shift its focus toward creating technology that could be licensed for commercialization.
Over the years, six men have led the institute as President and/or CEO, including Elias (1972–83); Dr. Robert E. Hefner (1985-85 and 1990–92); Dr. John Hoffman (1985–1990); Dr. James D. Allen (1992–1994); Dr. Robert M. Nowak (1994–2009); and Dr. James H. Plonka (2009–2015).
MMI's emphasis from the beginning on the education portion of its mission led to a steady stream of outside experts through the institute, including the visiting professor program, established in 1973 and renamed in 1981 as a living memorial to the late Dr. Turner Alfrey, Jr. Each year, a leading scientist is invited to teach a short course, visit sponsoring organizations and deliver additional research seminars, benefitting many people by providing a point of connection between local scientists and engineers with the world leaders of the polymer science field. [4]
TAVP speakers from around the world have been invited to present the latest, most up-to-date information in their particular polymer expertise areas. Typically, these courses were delivered in an intensive, one-week, daily lecture format. Visiting professors also spent additional time at MMI, participating in one-on-one and research group discussions at the Institute, and in collaborations and discussions with other nearby industrial and academic researchers. They also prepared and delivered a set of on-site seminars for many of the sponsoring organizations that parallel and supplement the formal course lectures. Financial co-sponsors of the Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor program included The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University, the Mid-Michigan Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers, and the Midland Section of the American Chemical Society.
The list of Turner Alfrey Visiting Professors includes several Nobel Prize winners.
The Dow Chemical Company (TDCC) is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States, and a subsidiary of Dow Inc. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world.
Karl Waldemar Ziegler was a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963, with Giulio Natta, for work on polymers. The Nobel Committee recognized his "excellent work on organometallic compounds [which]...led to new polymerization reactions and ... paved the way for new and highly useful industrial processes". He is also known for his work involving free-radicals, many-membered rings, and organometallic compounds, as well as the development of Ziegler–Natta catalyst. One of many awards Ziegler received was the Werner von Siemens Ring in 1960 jointly with Otto Bayer and Walter Reppe, for expanding the scientific knowledge of and the technical development of new synthetic materials.
Hermann Staudinger was a German organic chemist who demonstrated the existence of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. For this work he received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on 748 acres in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, approximately 5.5 miles north of downtown Saginaw.
Polymer science or macromolecular science is a subfield of materials science concerned with polymers, primarily synthetic polymers such as plastics and elastomers. The field of polymer science includes researchers in multiple disciplines including chemistry, physics, and engineering.
Michael Szwarc was a British and American polymer chemist who discovered and studied ionic living polymerization.
Carl Shipp "Speed" Marvel was an American chemist who specialized in polymer chemistry. He made important contributions to U.S. synthetic rubber program during World War II, and later worked at developing polybenzimidazoles, temperature-resistant polymers that are used in the aerospace industry, in fire-fighting equipment, and as a replacement for asbestos. He has been described as "one of the world's outstanding organic chemists" and received numerous awards, including the 1956 Priestley Medal and the 1986 National Medal of Science, presented by President Ronald Reagan.
Krzysztof "Kris" Matyjaszewski is a Polish-American chemist. He is the J.C. Warner Professor of the Natural Sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University Matyjaszewski is best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the way macromolecules are made. In 2011 he was a co-winner of the prestigious Wolf Prize in Chemistry.
Egbert (Bert) Willem Meijer is a Dutch organic chemist, known for his work in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry and polymer chemistry. Meijer, who is distinguished professor of Molecular Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, is considered one of the founders of the field of supramolecular polymer chemistry. Meijer is a prolific author, sought-after academic lecturer and recipient of multiple awards in the fields of organic and polymer chemistry.
Otto Vogl was an American chemist, polymer scientist, and educator.
Vratislav Ducháček was a Czech chemist and university professor.
Charles Gilbert Overberger was an American chemist, specialising in polymer research and education.
The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed certificate and prize money. The medal honors individuals for "outstanding invention, innovation, or development which has resulted in a significant change or contribution to the nature of the rubber industry". Awardees give a lecture at an ACS Rubber Division meeting, and publish a review of their work in the society's scientific journal Rubber Chemistry and Technology.
Edgar Harold Andrews is an English physicist and engineer. He is Emeritus Professor of Materials at Queen Mary, University of London.
Mark Mordecai Green is an American chemist, writer and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. He is best known for his extensive work on stereochemistry and also for his book Organic Chemistry Principles in Context: A Story Telling Historical Approach, which he uses in teaching organic chemistry in an unprecedented way.
Swaminathan Sivaram is an Indian polymer chemist, inventor, institution builder and a former director of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. He is known for his pioneering work on alkylation of tertiary alkyl halides with trialkylaluminum and olefin polymerization and holds the highest number of US patents by an Indian working outside the US. He is a fellow of several significant professional organizations. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian science.
Brigitte Voit, Prof. Dr. is a German chemist and professor of chemistry. She is the head of the chair Organic Chemistry of Polymers at the Department of Chemistry of the TU Dresden and leader of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden. She also is the Scientific Director of the IPF Dresden.
Anne Hiltner was an American polymer scientist who founded the Center for Applied Polymer Research (CAPRI) and was later instrumental in the founding of the Center for Layer Polymeric Systems (CLiPS), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center at Case Western Reserve University. She served as Director of the Center for Layered Polymeric Systems from its founding in 2006 until her death in 2010.
Sylvia Marie Stoesser, was an American chemist. She was the first woman to be employed as a chemist at Dow Chemical Company. During her time at Dow, she made a number of major contributions, holding more than two dozen patents as a result of her research.
Virgil Percec is a Romanian-American chemist and P. Roy Vagelos Chair and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Expert in organic, macromolecular and supramolecular chemistry including self-assembly, biological membrane mimics, complex chiral systems, and catalysis. Pioneered the fields of liquid crystals with complex architecture, supramolecular dendrimers, Janus dendrimers and glycodendrimers, organic Frank-Kasper phases and quasicrystals, supramolecular polymers, helical chirality, Ni-catalyzed cross-coupling and multiple living and self-interrupted polymerizations. Most of these concepts were inspired by Nature and biological principles.
