Richard J. Spontak

Spontak was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1961 and resided with his parents (Peter and Helen D. Spontak) in Saint Clair, Pennsylvania. In 1975, he was the Pottsville Republican Spelling Bee champion and participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1983 from the Pennsylvania State University. Later supervised by Michael C. Williams, Spontak received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1988. He subsequently pursued post-doctoral research in liquid crystalline polymers with Alan H. Windle at the University of Cambridge (UK) and in small-angle scattering with Tormod Riste and Jon Samseth at the Institute for Energy Technology (Norway). ==Career==

In 1988, Spontak was a Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Spontak began his career as a researcher in the Corporate Research Division at The Procter and Gamble Company, where he remained from 1990 until 1992. He has also held visiting appointments at various universities around the world, including the Lars Onsager Professor at NTNU in Norway, Erudite Professor at the Mahatma Gandhi University in India, Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Freiburg in Germany, and Tewkesbury Fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He has sat on the advisory boards of more than 20 international journals and holds editorial positions in three of them as of 2023. ==Publications==

Spontak's research includes over 300 peer-reviewed journal publications, including: • • • • • ==Selected awards==

• 2006 – Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science & Engineering, American Chemical Society (PMSE Division) • 2007 – Ernst Ruska Prize, German Electron Microscopy Society • 2008 – Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award, American Chemical Society (Rubber Division) • 2022 – SPSJ International Award, Society of Polymer Science (Japan) • 2022 – Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings, American Chemical Society (PMSE Division) • 2022 – Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, North Carolina State University • 2023 – Underwood Medal, Institution of Chemical Engineers • 2024 – Medal for Excellence, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (UK) • 2025 – Walston Chubb Award for Innovation, Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honor Society • 2025 – Hollomon Award for Materials and Society, Acta Materialia, Inc ==Affiliations==

Spontak is currently a fellow of the American Physical Society, American Chemical Society (PMSE Division), Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, International Association of Advanced Materials, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Society of Plastics Engineers. He is also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences. ==Personal life==

Since 1987, Spontak has been married to Josephine U. Spontak, with whom he has two children, Danielle and Joshua. ==References==