Kenneth J. Balkus, Jr. is an American chemist and materials scientist. He is professor of chemistry and former department chair at The University of Texas at Dallas. He is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and a recipient of the ACS Doherty Award. His well known work is synthesis of zeolite UTD-1, the first high-silica zeolite to contain a one-dimensional, extra-large 14-ring pore system. Other notable work include rare-earth metal organic frameworks. He is editor to Journal of Porous Materials, Springer. He is also co-founder of DB Therapeutics, a company developing cancer therapies.