Frank Blum credi ts the dr ive to understand for his work in chemistry: “I want to know how things work — how the physical things work.” Frank Blum 12Blum looks at the big picture when studying the smallest of materials Erasing limits Some professors prefer to guide students’ work carefully and hover over everything they do. Not so with newly minted Regents Professor Frank Blum: He prefers to give his students more of a free rein. “The benefit is they will often take approaches you wouldn’t have taken, that you wouldn’t have advised, but that can be really creative,” Blum says. “With that approach, I’m no longer limited by my own personal limitations. We’re only limited by the limitations we have collectively.” Blum is one of four new Regents professors in the College of Arts and Sciences for 2011. As the Harrison I. Bartlett chair of chemistry and department head, he delves into the laws of physics and how they apply to molecular systems, especially in polymers, which have components from natural and synthetic compounds. He advises seven doctoral students at OSU, including Bal Khatiwada, a Nepalese chemist who’s working with Blum on her project looking at how Plexiglas interacts with nanometer-sized particles of silica, the common component of glass.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAxMjk=