Parr Lecture
2024 Parr Lecture
"Pushing the Limits of Polymeric Materials through High-throughput Synthesis and Characterization"
The 2024 Parr Lecture will be given at 3 p.m. Friday, October 18, in 2079 Natural History Building by Craig J. Hawker, the Clarke Professor and holds the Alan and Ruth Heeger Chair of Interdisciplinary Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he co-directs the California NanoSystems Institute and the Dow Materials Institute. Following the lecture there will be a reception in the 2nd Floor Atrium of the Natural History Building.
Professor Hawker’s work has led to over 650 peer-reviewed papers and 100 patents with Professor Hawker helping to establish a range of start-up companies including Symyx, Intermolecular, Ilypsa, Relypsa and Olaplex. For his pioneering studies, Professor Hawker’s recent honors include an Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Eindhoven in 2023, the 2021 Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success from the American Chemical Society, the 2017 Charles Overberger International Prize, the 2013 ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry and the 2012 Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Professor Hawker has been honored with election to the Royal Society as well as being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences.
History of the Parr Lecture
The Parr Lecture is named after Samuel Wilson Parr, the founder of chemical engineering at Illinois. A native of Granville, Illinois, Parr became professor of applied chemistry and head of industrial chemistry at Illinois in 1891.
Parr inaugurated the curriculum named “Chemical Engineering for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.” This curriculum was first listed in the University of Illinois Catalog for 1901-02 and has continued since. Under Parr’s leadership, the division of Chemical Engineering emerged, which later became the Department of Chemical Engineering.
He was a prolific author and made numerous discoveries. Parr developed an alloy—called Illium, made of nine different metals—that has powerful corrosion-resisting properties. He also invented the first simplified instrument for measuring the heating value of coal. The Parr Calorimeter and subsequent developments contributed significantly to the development of a market for the extensive reserves of bituminous coal in Illinois at a time when most believed that only eastern coal could be used for heating. The coking process for bituminous coal he developed was superior to any hitherto known. Responding to the interest in his new invention, Parr founded the Standard Calorimeter Company, later renamed the Parr Instrument Company. An early Parr Calorimeter can be viewed in the north lobby of Roger Adams Laboratory. The Parr Instrument Company, based in Moline, Illinois, continues its reputation for fine craftsmanship and outstanding engineering.
Thank you to the Parr Instrument Company, which sponsors the Parr Lecture.
Previous Parr Lecturers
2023: Yushan Yan | Electrochemical Engineering for Energy Transition: Green Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Carbon Capture
2022: Kristi Anseth | Synthetic Hydrogels as Extracellular Matrix Mimics: Engineering Materials for 4D Cell Culture
2019: Sharon Glotzer | Engineering Entropy in Colloidal Matter
2018: David Sholl | Expanding the Chemical Palette for Reliable Adsorption-based Separations
2017: Keith Johnston (PhD ’81) | Helping Nanoparticles Reach Their Colloidal Potential
2016: Curtis W. Frank (PhD ’72) | Solid Matter at Interfaces
2015: Joan F. Brennecke (PhD ’89) | Ionic Liquids for Post-Combustion CO2,” PhD
2014: Mark E. Davis | Fighting Cancer with Nanoparticle Medicines: The Nanoscale Matters!
2013: Nicholas A. Peppas | New Frontiers in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Sciences: Advanced Intelligent Hydrogels for Protein Delivery
2011: William F. Banholzer (PhD ’83) | The Future of Fuels and Feedstocks: Addressing Hype, Limitations and Research Strategies
2009: Frances H. Arnold | In the Light of Directed Evolution: Pathways of Protein Adaptation
2008: Dennis M. Houston (BS ‘74) | The Energy Challenge
2006: Alice P. Gast | Proteins and Enzymes at Membrane Interfaces
2003: Robert A. Brown | Chemical Engineering in the 21st Century: Challenges for the Evolution of the Discipline
2002: Steven L. Miller (BS ’67) | The Crucible of Change