Sponsored since 1997 by the College of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Akron

• The Award recognizes a graduate student for "Excellence in Polymer Physics Research."
• The student must be a member of the DPOLY, must be working toward the Ph.D. degree.
• The student must not have completed the requirements for the Ph.D. before the due date for nominations.

Call for Nominations

The Frank J. Padden, Jr. Award, consisting of a certificate and appropriate recognition, honors a graduate student for "Excellence in Polymer Physics Research."  To be considered for this award the student must be a member of DPOLY, must be working toward the Ph.D. degree, and must not have completed the requirements for the Ph.D. before the application deadline. A nomination package consists of the following:

1. An acceptable abstract for a contributed talk in the DPOLY program at the March Meeting. Please submit the abstract on-line directly to the APS, and provide an electronic copy for the DPOLY Education Committee, as described further below.
2. A 2-page curriculum vitae (do NOT send papers or other attachments),
3. A nominating letter addressing the quality of the graduate research and academic excellence. The nominator may be the thesis adviser or another individual familiar with the student and his/her work. Individuals may make only a single nomination in a given year.

Send nominations by email to Mahesh K. Mahanthappa (maheshkm@umn.edu) using the subject line "Padden_name of student". Paper nominations will not be accepted. The deadline for receipt of all materials is the general deadline for March Meeting abstract submission (October 23 this year).

APS abstract submission must meet the general deadline for March Meeting abstract submission. The abstract should be submitted to Sorting Category 01 and in the template space for Special Instructions, enter "Padden Award Symposium". The abstract will be forwarded to the Program Chair for inclusion in the March Meeting DPOLY program, either in the Padden Award Symposium if the nominee is selected as a finalist, or in the appropriate technical category otherwise.

The Education Committee will select 5 finalists (or more, if the candidates are exceptionally strong) based on the materials provided. At the March Meeting, finalists will be invited to a celebratory dinner (sponsored by the University of Akron) with members of the DPOLY Education Committee, and participate in the Padden Award Symposium. Each of the finalists will give a 12-minute (including time for questions) oral presentation. The session will be attended by the Education Committee, who will serve as judges, and by any other interested members of DPOLY or APS. The winner will be selected based on quality of the research, the presentation, and response to questions. The winner will be announced at the annual DPOLY Business Meeting.

2020 Recipient:
Nicole Michenfelder-Schauser

Past Recipients:
2019: Liwen Chen
2018: Jelena Dinic
2017: Yue Zhang
2016: Dylan Kipp
2015: Katherine Harry
2014: Justin Pye
2013: Kiarash Vakhshouri
2012: James Rogers
2011: Scott Mullin
2010: Bo Wang
2009: Susan Fullerton Shirey
2008: Rodney Priestley
2007: Zahra Fakhraai
2006: Michael V. Massa
2005: Christopher Ellison
2004: Eric Cochran
2003: Rakwoo Chang
2002: Zhiqun Lin
2001: Alexander Deshkovski
2000: Y.-L. Loo
1999: Lee D. Rockford
1998: Kari Dalnoki-Veress
1997: Thomas T. Perkins
1996: Ching-I Huang
1995: H.M. Schneider