Anselm Griffin
Noted polymer researcher Anselm Griffin, chair of Georgia Tech's School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering (PTFE), wasn't always interested in polymers. Griffin, who researched liquid crystals for much of his early academic career, began working with polymers at the request of his students at the University of Southern Mississippi twenty years ago. "My students wanted to do polymer projects—not only are they challenging, but there were high-level opportunities in that field," says Griffin. "Gradually, all of the problems I worked on were polymers."
At Georgia Tech, Griffin has the chance to work on complicated polymer problems while leading a growing program at a top ten public university. "I grew up in the South and I knew Georgia Tech was an excellent school for engineering and science," says Griffin, whose passion for multidisciplinary research led him to Tech in 2002 after serving as provost of the University of Southern Mississippi. In addition to his administrative role as the chair of PTFE, Griffin researches liquid crystal polymers, auxetic polymers, and liquid crystalline elastomers, which have future applications as diverse as body armor for personal protection and better fasteners, gaskets, and seals.
Serving as the founding director of the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis at the University of Cambridge helped prepare him to lead Tech's PTFE program. "The laboratory integrated polymers across a number of disciplines," says Griffin, "so we could both make and provide materials and facilitate the growth of polymers." "It's sort of like what we do here," says Griffin, who likens the laboratory to PTFE, which changed its name from the School of Textile and Fiber Engineering to the School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering in 2003 to reflect its emerging polymer studies program as well as its strong historical ties to the textile and fiber industries. By incorporating polymer studies for a multidisciplinary focus, "we've expanded our career opportunities," says Griffin. "We're giving students expansive opportunities while not ignoring our tradition. It broadens what our students can do."