Faculty

Stuart Rowan

  • Barry L. MacLean Professor for Molecular Engineering Innovation and Enterprise in the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
  • Research and Scholarly Interests: Polymeric Materials, Polymer Synthesis, Polymer Sustainability, Supramolecular Chemistry, Dynamic Covalent Chemistry
  • Websites: Rowan Group
  • Contact: stuartrowan@uchicago.edu
    773.702.4833
  • Assistant: Tracy Walker
  • Office Location:
    Eckhardt Research Center
    Room 211
    5640 South Ellis Avenue
    Chicago, IL 60637

Stuart Rowan is the Barry L. MacLean Professor of Molecular Engineering and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.

Prof. Rowan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and grew up in Troon, Ayrshire, on Scotland’s west coast. He received his BSc (Hons.) in Chemistry in 1991 from the University of Glasgow and stayed there for graduate school in the laboratory of Dr. David D. MacNicol, receiving his PhD in 1995. In 1994 he moved to the chemistry department at the University of Cambridge to work with Prof. Jeremy K. M. Sanders FRS. He moved across the Atlantic, and the continental U.S., to continue his postdoctoral studies with Prof. Sir J. Fraser Stoddart FRS at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998. In 1999 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor to the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2005, and became a Full Professor in 2008. In 2016, he joined the Institute for Molecular Engineering (now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. He also has a staff appointment in the Chemical and Engineering Science (CSE) Division at Argonne National Laboratory.

He is a National Science Foundation CAREER awardee, received the Morley Medal (Cleveland ACS) in 2013, the CWRU Distinguished University Award in 2015, and the Herman Mark Scholar Award (ACS) in 2015. He is an ACS Fellow, an ACS POLY Fellow, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Macro Letters (https://pubs.acs.org/journal/amlccd ), and is on the editorial advisory board for a number of journals.

He has published over 170 scientific papers and reviews. His research interests focus on the use of dynamic chemistry (covalent and non-covalent) in the construction and properties of structurally dynamic and adaptive polymeric materials. The current interests of his group span responsive polymers, sustainable materials, polymers for energy, biomaterials, and new polymer synthesis. Specifically, his group works on supramolecular polymers, dynamic covalent polymers, self-healing materials, responsive adhesives, metal-containing polymers, gels, biomaterials, cellulose nanocrystal/nanocellulose, and interlocked polymeric architectures.

Rowan Group focuses on studying the chemistry of non-covalent interactions (supramolecular chemistry). This is embodied by studying the synthesis of metallosupramolecular and stimuli-resonsive polymers; isolation and utilization of cellulose nanocrystals in biomimetic and porous systems; and finally, reversible covalent chemistry.

Bioinspired mechanical mineralization of organogels
J. Ayarza, J. Wang, H. Kim, P.-R. Huang, B. Cassaidy, G. Yan, C. Liu, H. M. Jaeger, S. J. Rowan & A. P. Esser-Kahn, Nature Communications 14, 8319 (2023)

Stress-activated friction in sheared suspensions probed with piezoelectric nanoparticles
Hojin Kim, Aaron P Esser-Kahn, Stuart J Rowan, Heinrich M Jaeger. PNAS 2023, 120, 49, e2310088120

Exploring the effect of dynamic bond placement in liquid crystal elastomers
Charlie A. Lindberg, Elina Ghimire, Chuqiao Chen, Sean Lee, Neil D. Dolinski, Joseph M. Dennis, Sihong Wang, Juan J. de Pablo, Stuart J. Rowan. Journal of Polymer Science (2023) 1-9

Wetting Behavior of A-block-(B-random-C) Copolymers with Equal Block Surface Energies on Surfaces Functionalized with B-random-C Copolymers
Hongbo Feng, Benjamin Kash, Soonmin Yim, Kushal Bagchi, Gordon SW Craig, Wen Chen, Stuart J Rowan, Paul F Nealey. Langmuir 2023, 39, 41, 14688–14698

Development of Masitinib Derivatives with Enhanced Mpro Ligand Efficiency and Reduced Cytotoxicity
Cintia A Menendez, Adil Mohamed, Gustavo R Perez-Lemus, Adam M Weiss, Benjamin W Rawe, Guancen Liu, Alex E Crolais, Emma Kenna, Fabian Byléhn, Walter Alvarado, Dan Mendels, Stuart J Rowan, Savaş Tay, Juan J de Pablo Molecules 2023, 28(18), 6643

Understanding How Cationic Polymers’ Properties Inform Toxic or Immunogenic Responses via Parametric Analysis
Adam M. Weiss, Marcos A. Lopez II, Benjamin W. Rawe, Saikat Manna, Qing Chen, Elizabeth J. Mulder, Stuart J. Rowan*, and Aaron P. Esser-Kahn* Macromolecules 2023, 56, 18, 7286–7299

Dynamic-bond-induced sticky friction tailors non-Newtonian rheology
Hojin Kim, Mike van der Naald, Neil D Dolinski, Stuart J Rowan, Heinrich M Jaeger. Soft Matter 2023,19, 35, 6797-6804

Enhancing the Equilibrium of Dynamic Thia-Michael Reactions through Heterocyclic Design
Alex E. Crolais, Neil D. Dolinski, Nicholas R. Boynton, Julia M. Radhakrishnan, Scott A. Snyder*, and Stuart J. Rowan*. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 26, 14427–14434

Side Chain Dipole Orientation and Its Effect on Microphase Separation: Experiment and Simulation via Structural Isomer Variation
Hongbo Feng, Ludwig Schneider, Whitney Loo, Gordon S. W. Craig, Christopher Eom, Zhongyang Wang, Ricardo Ruiz, Juan J. de Pablo, Stuart J. Rowan, and Paul F. Nealey. Macromolecules 2023, 56, 12, 4591–4601

Doubly Threaded Slide-Ring Polycatenane Networks
Laura F. Hart, William R. Lenart, Jerald E. Hertzog, Jongwon Oh, Wilson R. Turner, Joseph M. Dennis, and Stuart J. Rowan. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 22, 12315–12323

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