Dr. Paula Hammond, professor and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was selected as a Hagler Fellow. Hammond will be jointly collaborating with faculty and students from the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University.
The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University invites a select group of decorated scholars, named Hagler Fellows, to conduct research with Texas A&M faculty and graduate students. The institute’s purpose is to recruit talented faculty-researchers who strive for innovation and excellence in their respective fields.
“We are excited for the opportunity to work with Dr. Hammond,” said Dr. Andreas Polycarpou, head of the mechanical engineering department. “She is an accomplished researcher and professor, and our faculty and students will benefit greatly through this collaboration.”
Hammond’s research focuses on macromolecular design and synthesis, targeted drug delivery for cancer, nanoscale assembly of synthetic biomaterials, and electrostatic and directed materials assembly. She is particularly interested in advancing translational medicine through the use of nanomaterials and polymeric systems.
She is a founding member of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology, as well as a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the MIT Energy Initiative. One of only 25 scientists elected to all three national academies, she is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
She was awarded the American Chemical Society’s ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science, the Charles M.A. Stine Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Margaret Rousseau Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Woman Chemical Engineer.