19 Regents Professor Frank Blum is interested in how things work. From tennis rackets to golf clubs to fiberglass boats, he wants to make sense of their innards. Blum is an expert in polymers that play essential roles in everyday life. The chair of the chemistry department has co-authored more than 200 publications and has supervised 25 doctoral students. His accolades include an Alcoa Foundation Award and twice receiving the Exxon Education Foundation Award. “In order to create a better tennis racket, we must understand the structural components so we may learn how to design new materials for increasingly demanding applications.” He is heavily involved in the polymer chemistry division of the American Chemical Society, which honored him with distinguished service and special service awards. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society. Blum earned a bachelor’s in chemistry and a master’s in physical chemistry from Eastern Illinois University. He earned a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He came to OSU in 2010 from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Gary Lawson PORTRAIT Frank Blum HARRISON I. BARTLETT CHAIR IN CHEMISTRY
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