Special Issue in the Journal of Polymer Science, 2024, pp 3585-3869 dedicated to research and education in polymers at UMass Amherst. We thank all of the PSE student, postdoc, faculty, and alumni authors of articles in this special JPS issue, and to JPS Editor (and PSE alumnus) Dr. Joseph Krumpfer! We especially thank Todd Emrick for organizing this editorial!
The accelerating growth and societal importance of polymers span academic disciplines—chemistry, engineering, physics, materials, and interfacial science—and now penetrate critically important aspects of healthcare, energy, transportation, and technology sectors. The University of Massachusetts Amherst has played a pioneering role in the evolution of polymer science, helping transform early industrial discoveries into the modern inclusion of polymers in nearly all academic departments in the materials, chemistry, and engineering disciplines. UMass Amherst, originally founded as the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1863 following the federal Morrill Act, celebrated its 160th anniversary in concert with the Polymer Science & Engineering (PSE) Department entering its 60th year of dedication to the polymer field. As such, it is a pleasure to present this special issue of the Journal of Polymer Science, with contributed manuscripts, review articles, and topical perspectives by UMass faculty members (both current and prior) as well as PSE alumni. The subjects of the manuscripts—spanning nanocomposites, biomaterials, interfacial science, theory, and structural characterization—illustrate examples of forefront research in the polymer field.