Matthew Tirrell

Matthew Tirrell is the founding Pritzker Director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, and a Senior Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. He specializes in polymer surface properties, adsorption, adhesion, surface treatment, friction, lubrication, biocompatibility and self-assembly. In 2009, Prof. Tirrell became the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Professor and Chair of Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, with additional appointments in chemical engineering and materials science & engineering, and as a Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He served in these capacities until taking his current appointment in 2011. From 1977 to 1999, Tirrell was a member of the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science faculty at the University of Minnesota, where he served as department head from 1995 to 1999. From 1999 to 2009, Tirrell was Dean of Engineering and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara.