Frank S. Bates

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, College of Science and Engineering, 2007

Frank S. Bates, Distinguished McKnight Professor (1996) and head of Chemical Engineering and Materials Sciences, Institute of Technology, has achieved an outstanding international reputation for his pioneering achievements as a polymer scientist. He discovered the deuterium isotope effect in polymer blends, which had lasting effects on numerous phase behavior studies using neutron scattering. This groundbreaking work set him apart from his peers at an early stage in his career. Professor Bates is among a very small number of polymer scientists who have shaped the current field of polymer physical science and is considered the leading expert on the use of neutron scattering as a tool in organic materials science. Professor Bates has more than 260 publications in prestigious journals. Nineteen of his papers have been published in Physics Review Letters and six articles have been published in Science, the world's premier scientific journal. Of his 260 publications (220 have been published after he joined the University of Minnesota), Citation Indices credits him with some 15,739 citations. As an engineer he has invented useful products and processes for society including the manufacture and use of materials in drug delivery and other applications. Patents have been filed for a toughened epoxy and a pentablock copolymer that has properties needed for molding CD and DVD disks that he and his students and/or his colleagues have discovered. Thirteen of his fifteen patents have been filed from the University of Minnesota. Professor Bates is described as an outstanding mentor to graduate and postdoctoral students. He has advised 25 postdoctoral researchers and has graduated 38 Ph.D. and 8 M.S advisees. His students have taken positions in high-tech industries, such as 3M and Medtronic. Not only is he a conscientious and effective teacher at the graduate level but also the undergraduate level. He has taught nearly a full load during the seven years that he has been head of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the Institute of Technology's George Taylor Distinguished Research Award, the University's Distinguished McKnight Professorship Award, the John H. Dillon Medal, and the Polymer Physics Prize. Professor Bates has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, in 2002, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He also has a distinguished record in the area of professional service. He has served on several search committees and task forces for the University and on many national committees and boards. Professor Bates clearly exemplifies the qualities and aspirations the University requires of its Regents Professors.