Michael Szwarc
Michael Szwarc (9 June 1909, Będzin, Poland – 4 August 2000, San Diego, California)[1] was a British and American polymer chemist who discovered and studied ionic living polymerization.
Biography
Michael Mojżesz Szwarc was born into a Polish-Jewish family in Będzin, Poland. In 1932 he received the title of engineer in chemistry at the
In 1945 he joined Michael Polanyi's research group at the University of Manchester in the UK. In 1947 he defended his second Ph.D. thesis, this time in physical chemistry. Two years later, he was awarded D.Sc. for work on measurements of energy distribution of chemical bonds, and was promoted to senior lecturer at the University of Manchester.[2]
In 1952 Michael Szwarc moved to the United States and was a professor of physical chemistry and polymers at the
At SUNY he was a consultant for scientific projects conducted by
Michael Szwarc and his Polish wife, Marysia (Maria), had three children - a son and two daughters. He played piano and was a long-distance open water swimmer.[2]
Awards and memberships
- Fellow of The Royal Society (1966)[2]
- Foreign member of Nobel Prize Committee (1968–72)
- The American Chemical Society Award: Witco Award in Polymer Chemistry (1969); Award of the Division of Polymer Chemistry (1990)[3]
- Kyoto Prize(1991)[5]
- International Award of the Plastics Engineers (1972)[5]
- Gold Medal of Benjamin Franklin's Association (1978)[2]
- Foreign member of Polish Academy of Sciences (1988)[2]
- honoris causa' of: Leuven University (1974), Uppsala University, Pasteur Institute (1978), Jagiellonian University (2000)[2]
References
- ^ "Michael Szwarc". Center for Oral History. Science History Institute. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c WT Winter (4 August 2000). "Michael Szwarc-biography". SUNY-ESF, Department of Chemistry.
- S2CID 4266406.
- ^ a b "Michael Szwarc". Inamori Foundation. 2005. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03.