Jessica Schiffman, professor and Gary R. Lapidus Faculty Fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering, has been selected to the 2024-25 class of Drexel University’s Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES) program.

The ELATES program is a national leadership development program designed to promote women in academic STEM fields, and faculty allies of all genders, into institutional leadership roles. The Class of 2024-25 ELATES Fellows is a cohort of 46 faculty members from over 35 institutions of higher education across the U.S. and Canada, which includes experts in engineering, mathematics and science – all of whom have significant administrative experience on top of their scholarly accomplishments.

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Craig Martin, professor of chemistry, and Sarah Perry, associate professor of chemical engineering, both at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently received support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a novel approach toward efficiently, reliably and cost effectively synthesizing novel strands of specialty “long RNA.” Future genetic research into everything from basic cell biology to advanced therapeutics depends in part on having just the sort of complex, modified RNA that Martin and Perry will be working to make widely available.

A dozen UMass Amherst researchers representing a wide range of disciplines have been recognized as among the world’s most highly cited researchers in 2023.

The list is generated by the Web of Science database of analytics provider Clarivate. The highly cited papers rank in the top 1% by citations for their field and publication year in the Web of Science over the past decade. This year’s highly cited researchers span 67 countries or regions and represent a diverse range of research fields in the sciences and social sciences.

The highly cited UMass Amherst researchers demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field of research in 2023.  Those listed include three food scientists: professor Eric Decker, Distinguished Professor David Julian McClements and professor and Clydesdale Scholar of Food Science Hang Xiao; microbiology professor Derek Lovley; Distinguished Professor in Chemistry Vincent Rotello; Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Chair Professor in Materials Science and Engineering Nianqiang "Nick" Wu; University Distinguished Professor and director of Stockbridge School of Agriculture Baoshan Xing; Silvio O. Conte Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering Thomas Russell;......

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Steve Granick, among the world’s most highly regarded polymer scientists, has been appointed to join the University of Massachusetts Amherst as the Robert K. Barrett Chair in Polymer Science and Engineering, with joint appointments in the chemistry, physics and chemical engineering departments. With nearly 350 publications to his name, and dozens of graduate students and postdocs successfully placed in prestigious academic and industry positions, Granick will play a guiding role in steering polymer science into the future. 

Granick, who for 30 years was a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will come to UMass Amherst from his position as director of the Center for Soft and Living Matter at South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science, a $100 million research organization dedicated to long-term investigation that can lay the foundation for future innovation. 

Granick has long been celebrated for his intellectual curiosity and creative approach to polymer science, and it’s this creativity that caught the eye of UMass Amherst’s polymer scientists. “We’ve all known of Steve’s work for years,” says David Hoagland, head of the polymer science and engineering department at UMass. “He brings a broad perspective, both intellectually and personally, about where the most interesting and useful polymer research is heading, and we’re thrilled to have his vision guiding our field.” .....

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