Sharon Glotzer

Sharon C. Glotzer
Born	New York City, New York
Residence	USA
Citizenship	USA
Fields	Physics Chemistry Materials Science Chemical Engineering
Institutions	University of Michigan
Doctoral advisor	H. Eugene Stanley
Known for	Dynamical Heterogeneity Directional Entropic Force Self-assembly Patchy Particles Packing
Notable awards	Simons Investigator, 2012-2017 Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2011 Fellow, American Physical Society Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science National Security Science & Engineering Faculty Fellow, 2009-2014

Sharon C. Glotzer is an American chemical engineer and physicist and the Stuart W. Churchill Professor at the University of Michigan. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to the fields of soft matter and computational science, most notably on problems of the glass transition - for which the elucidation of the nature of dynamical heterogeneity in glassy liquids is of particular significance - as well as in assembly science and engineering, and nanoscience.

Education

Glotzer obtained her B.S in physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1987, and her PhD in 1993 in theoretical soft condensed matter physics research under the guidance of H. Eugene Stanley at Boston University.^[1]

Academic career

Sharon Glotzer joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 1993 as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow in the Polymers Division of the Materials Science & Engineering Laboratory. She became a permanent member of the Polymers Division, and was the co-founder, deputy director, and then director of the NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science from 1994-2000. In January 2001 she moved to the University of Michigan as a tenured associate professor in Chemical Engineering and in Materials Science & Engineering. She is now the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and holds additional appointments in Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering.

Research and achievements

Glotzer made fundamental contributions to the field of the glass transition, for which the Molecular Dynamics simulation of Lennard–Jones spheres exhibiting heterogeneity in a 3D-liquid^[2] is of particular significance.^[3] In addition, her paper together with Michael J. Solomon on anisotropy dimensions of patchy particles [SC Glotzer, MJ Solomon. Nature materials 6 (8), 557-562] has become a classic work, inspiring research directions of groups around the world. Glotzer and collaborators also hold the record for the densest tetrahedron packing and discovered that hard tetrahedrons can self-assemble into a dodecagonal quasicrystal.^[4]

Recently, Glotzer and collaborators coined the term ‘Directional Entropic Forces’^[5] in 2011 to denote the mechanism by which anisotropic hard particles align their facets prior to assembly and/or crystallization due solely to entropic effects, in the absence of depletants. This idea, based on Onsager's work on spherocylinders,^[6] allows for predictions of expected assembled crystal and crystal-like structures from attributes of the particles' shape.^[7]

To date, her publications have received almost 9,000 citations and her h-index is 50.^[8]

Honors and awards

Glotzer is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (class of 2011), a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and holds a prestigious National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship from the Department of Defense. She was recently named a Simons' Investigator (inaugural class, 2012). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Charles M.A. Stine Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from the American Physical Society, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award for Superior Federal Service.

Footnotes

Articles

• P F Damasceno, M Engel, S C Glotzer (2012). "Predictive Self-Assembly of Polyhedra into Complex Structures". Science 337: 453–457. Bibcode:2012Sci...337..453D. doi:10.1126/science.1220869. 
• W Kob, C Donati, S J Plimpton, P H Poole, S C Glotzer (1997). "Dynamical Heterogeneities in a Supercooled Lennard-Jones Liquid". Physical Review Letters 79 (15): 2827–2830. arXiv:cond-mat/9706075. Bibcode:1997PhRvL..79.2827K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.2827. 
• C Donati, J F Douglas, W. Kob, S J Plimpton, P H Poole, S C Glotzer (1998). "Stringlike Cooperative Motion in a Supercooled Liquid". Physical Review Letters 80 (15): 2338–2341. arXiv:cond-mat/9706075. Bibcode:1997PhRvL..79.2827K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.2827. 
• S C Glotzer, M J Solomon (2007). "Anisotropy of Building Blocks and their Assembly into Complex Structures". Nature Materials 6 (8): 557–562. doi:10.1038/nmat1949. 
• P F Damasceno, M Engel, S C Glotzer (2012). "Crystalline Assemblies and Densest Packings of a Family of Truncated Tetrahedra and the Role of Directional Entropic Forces". ACS Nano 6: 609–614. arXiv:1109.1323. doi:10.1021/nn204012y. 

External links

• "Sharon C. Glotzer". University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering Department. 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-26. 
• "Glotzer's website". University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering Department. 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-26. 
• "Engel's website". University of Michigan. 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-26. 
• "Damasceno's website". University of Michigan. 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-26.