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Anna Balazs

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Anna C. Balazs
Born1953 (age 70–71)
Alma materBryn Mawr College (AB), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (S.M., PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsComputer modeling, soft matter, polymer physics, fluid dynamics
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh
Doctoral advisorsK.H. Johnson, George M. Whitesides, Robert Silbey
Websitewww.engineering.pitt.edu/ccma

Anna Christina Balazs (born 1953) is an American materials scientist and engineer. She currently is Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and holds the John A. Swanson Chair at the Swanson School of Engineering.[1][2][3]

Her research involves developing theoretical and computational models to capture the behavior of polymeric materials, nanocomposites and multi-component fluids in confined geometries.[4] In 2016, Balazs was the first woman to receive the Polymer Physics Prize from the American Physical Society “for imaginative and insightful use of theory to understand multi-component polymeric systems.”[5][4][6] In 2021 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for contributions to computational materials science[7] and in 2022 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for "creative and imaginative work in predicting the behavior of soft materials that are composed of multiple cooperatively - interacting components."[8]

Balazs is a Fellow of the American Physical Society,[9] the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Materials Research Society.[10]

Early life and education

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Balalzs was born to Holocaust survivors in Hungary.[11] She was inspired by her father who was a veterinarian to go into science.[11] Balazs received her B.A. degree with honors in Physics from Bryn Mawr College in 1975.[4] She received her master's and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA in 1981.[4] During her Ph.D. she worked with George M. Whitesides,[11] K.H. Johnson, and Robert Silbey. After her Ph.D., she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Brandeis University (1981-1983) in the Chemistry Department with Irving Epstein. She became a research associate at the University of Massachusetts (1984-1986) in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department with Frank Karasz, William MacKnight, and Isaac Sanchez.

Research and career

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In 1987 she moved to the University of Pittsburgh where she became an Assistant Professor (1987-1992), an Associate Professor (1992-1999), and Bicentennial Engineering Alumni Faculty Fellow.Balazs research uses theoretical and computational modeling of the thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of polymer blends and composites.[12] She has worked on developing models to design regenerating polymer gels.[13] She is the Principal Investigator of the NSF Center for Chemo-Mechanical Assembly (CCMA), established through the National Science Foundation Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCI) Program.[14][15] She has held the position of visiting professor at Scripps Research Institute in Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, and Oxford University in the UK.[12]

She was the Chair of the American Physical Society Division of Polymer Physics in 1999-2000.[16] She has also served on the editorial board of Macromolecules,  Langmuir, Accounts of Chemical Research, Science Advances, and Soft Matter.[10]

Awards and achievements

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References

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  1. ^ "Anna Balazs". pitt.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Anna Balazs". pitt.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Balazs, Anna (31 August 2017). "School of Engineering Names Anna Balazs to John A. Swanson Chair". University Times. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Balazs, Anna. "2016 Polymer Physics Prize Recipient". APS Physics. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ^ Balazs, Anna. "Polymer Physics Award". Swanson School of Engineering. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. ^ Balazs, Anna (19 October 2015). "Newsmaker: Dr. Anne Balazs". Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Tribune-Review. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ Galvin, Molly. "News from the National Academy of Sciences". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  8. ^ Green, Brandon. "National Academy of Engineering Elects 111 Members and 22 International Members". www.nae.edu. National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  9. ^ a b "APS Fellow Archive". American Physical Society. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Anna Balazs is made a Materials Research Society Fellow – Soft Matter Blog". Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  11. ^ a b c "After the Lecture: Anna Balazs". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  12. ^ a b "Prof Anna Christina Balazs". AZoNano.com. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  13. ^ "Polymer gel, heal thyself: Engineering team proposes new composites that can regenerate when damaged". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  14. ^ "NSF Center for Chemo-Mechanical Assembly". Swanson School of Engineering.
  15. ^ "NSF Center for Chemo-Mechanical Assembly". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series - Anna Balazs | International Institute for Nanotechnology". www.iinano.org. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  17. ^ Galvin, Molly. "National Academy of Sciences Elects New Members — Including a Record Number of Women — and International Members". www.nasonline.org. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Materials Research Society". Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  19. ^ "S F Boys-A Rahman Award 2015 Winner". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Langmuir Lecture". ACS Colloid and Surface Chemistry. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Anna Balazs announced as 2013 Mines Medalist". South Dakota School of Mines. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Past Executive Committees". American Physical Society. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
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