Noboru Tokita (February 20, 1923 - October 31, 2014) was a Uniroyal and later Cabot scientist known for his work on the processing of elastomers [1] .
Tokita was born in Sapporo, Japan in 1923. He met his wife Noriko while on an exchange program at Duke University. They married and decided to stay in the United States. He was a close colleague of 2009 Charles Goodyear Medal winner James White, introducing White to his future wife Yoko Masaki. [2]
Tokita completed BS degree at Tokyo University in 1948, and his Ph.D. in physics and chemistry in 1957 at the University of Hokkaido. [3]
He began his professional career in 1954 as a professor of Applied Physics at Waseda University in Tokyo. He held this position until 1960 when he came to the United States on an exchange program with Duke University. At Duke, he taught polymer rheology. In the early 1960s Tokita joined the U. S. Rubber Company in New Jersey, later Uniroyal, working there for 30 years on elastomer processing. He later joined Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company in Akron in a research role. He joined Cabot Corporation in Billerica in 1990. During his career he produced 9 U.S. Patents. His most cited scientific article treated the subject of morphology formation in elastomer blends. [4]
Eric Baer, is an American scientist and engineer known for his major research and educational contributions to polymer science and engineering. He is a leading pioneer in understanding the complex relationships between solid state structure, processing, and properties of polymeric materials and systems.
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.
The Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award is a professional award conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1983, the award is named after Melvin Mooney, developer of the Mooney viscometer and of the Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic law. The award consists of an engraved plaque and prize money. The medal honors individuals "who have exhibited exceptional technical competency by making significant and repeated contributions to rubber science and technology".
Rubber Chemistry and Technology is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering fundamental research and technical developments relating to chemistry, materials science, and engineering of rubber, elastomers, and related materials. It was established in 1928, with Carroll C. Davis as its first editor-in-chief. The current editor-in-chief is Christopher G. Robertson. The journal is published by the American Chemical Society's Rubber Division. The journal currently publishes four issues per year containing original research contributions and review articles.
James Lindsay White was an American polymer scientist.
Charles Michael Roland was Head of the Polymer Physics Section at the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC from 1989 to 2015. His research was concerned primarily with the dynamics of condensed matter, including polymers and liquid crystals, with applications to military armor and infrastructure protection. He is noted for his development of elastomeric coatings for blast protection, and for diverse accomplishments in the field of elastomer science. From 1991-1999, he served as the 8th editor of the scientific journal Rubber Chemistry and Technology, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (UK).
Edward N. Kresge is a retired Exxon scientist, noted for his development of ethylene-propylene viscosity index modifiers, polyolefin thermoplastic elastomers, and tailored molecular weight density EPDM elastomers.
Aubert Y. Coran (1932-2020) was an American scientist noted for his contributions to thermoplastic elastomers and vulcanization chemistry of rubber. In 1983, he won the Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award, bestowed by the American Chemical Society to individuals "who have exhibited exceptional technical competency by making significant and repeated contributions to rubber science and technology". In 1995, the rubber division of the American Chemical Society bestowed on Coran the Charles Goodyear Medal in honor of his international contributions to polymer science and development.
Christopher Ward Macosko (1944) is an American chemical engineer and professor emeritus in the department of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Minnesota. He is internationally known for his work in polymer science and engineering, especially in the areas of rheology and polymer processing. Macosko is an author of more than 500 academic papers, dozens of patents, and two books including the text: "Rheology: Principles, Measurements and Applications". He served as director of the Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering (IPRIME), a university-industry consortium at the University of Minnesota, from 1999 to 2018. Macosko and his wife Kathleen have been married since 1967 and are long-time residents of Minneapolis. They have four children and 12 grandchildren.
LaShanda Teresa James Korley is a Distinguished Professor of Materials Science at the University of Delaware and an expert in soft matter, polymers, and nature-inspired materials. On a larger scale, Korley is also working on developing strategies and technologies to prevent plastic waste in landfills and oceans by upcycling plastic waste to more valuable products. She leads such efforts through the Center for Plastics Innovation, the Center for Research in Soft Matter and Polymers, and also the Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials (CHARM). Korley was awarded the 2019 National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Research.
Judit Puskas is a Distinguished Ohio State University professor noted as co-inventor of the polymer used on the Taxus-brand coronary stent. She is the first woman to win the Charles Goodyear Medal, the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society's Rubber Division. Her research focuses on polymer engineering for breast reconstruction in cancer treatment, green polymer chemistry, biomimetic processes, biomaterials, living polymerization, polymerization mechanisms and kinetics, thermoplastic elastomers, polymer structure/property relationships, and polymer-bio interfaces.
Sudhin Datta is an ExxonMobil Chemical scientist noted for the development of Vistamaxx propylene-based elastomers.
Prof. Yasuyuki Tanaka was a Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology professor noted for elucidating the molecular structure of natural rubber, and for his work in synthetic rubber.
William Manert Hess was a Columbian Chemicals Company scientist known for contributions to characterization of carbon black dispersion in rubber.
Stuart L. Cooper is an American engineer. As a Full Professor and Chair of Ohio State University's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cooper was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011.
Shingo Futamura is a rubber industry materials scientist noted for his concept of the deformation index.
Joginder Lal was a Goodyear Polymer Research Manager and expert in the synthesis and mechanism of the formation of high polymers.
Maria D. Ellul is a retired ExxonMobil materials scientist known for her contributions to and development of commercial polyolefin and polyamide specialty thermoplastic elastomers, and recognized as one of the first prominent women scientists in the rubber industry.
Andy Haishung Tsou is a retired ExxonMobil materials scientist known for developing synchrotron X-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy techniques for polymer research, applying the techniques in service of development and commercialization of new polyolefin materials.
David John Lohse is a retired ExxonMobil materials scientist known for contributions on thermodynamics of mixing, nanocomposites for controlling permeability, neutron scattering of polymers, rheology of polymers.