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Garth Wilkes portrait in lab

MII Awards the Inaugural Garth L. Wilkes Interdisciplinary Scholar Awards

MII will bestow two prestigious awards in honor of Professor Garth L. Wilkes, who was an internationally-recognized interdisciplinary scholar, faculty colleague, and personal friend to many people around the world.

Garth played a leadership role in the formation of the Polymeric Materials and Interfaces Laboratory (PMIL) at Virginia Tech, which was a predecessor to our current Institute. He also was instrumental in the construction of our Macromolecular Science and Engineering (MACR) degree, which serves as a university model for interdisciplinary graduate education. His legacy is truly immense for the university, faculty, staff, and students across the campus. He was an advocate for tackling complex problems with attention to structure- property-processing relationships, demanding working relationships between faculty and industrial partners.

Garth proudly “wore four hats” as an academic; he was a teacher, a researcher, an industrial consultant, and an expert witness in the courtroom. He exceptionally demonstrated the importance of wearing four hats as a successful academic, and he continued to pursue these passions up to the weeks prior to his passing. In the words of Albert Einstein, "The only way to escape the corruptible effect of praise is to go on working." Garth certainly adhered to Einstein’s advice. He was truly selfless in his pursuit of excellence.

The Garth L. Wilkes Interdisciplinary Scholar awards recognize an MII affiliated faculty member and graduate student who represent interdisciplinary excellence in research, teaching, and engagement. Professor Robert B. Moore (Department of Chemistry) and Mr. Jake Fallon (Department of Chemical Engineering) will receive their awards at the MII Technical Conference and Review on April 16-18, 2018.

Prof. Moore is an internationally recognized scholar in the morphological and mechanical characterization of macromolecules. Bob is an exceptional teacher in the classroom and plays a critical role in the American Chemical Society Polymer Principles short courses. Industries regularly invite him as a consultant and expert witness due to his unique synergy of intellect and ability to describe complex scientific problems in easily digestible terms.

Jake Fallon portrait
Mr. Jake Fallon
Bob Moore portrait
Professor Robert Moore

Mr. Jake Fallon is currently a MACR graduate student in Professor Michael Bortner’s research group in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Jake worked at Braskem prior to returning to graduate school at Virginia Tech, and Professor Wilkes was instrumental to attracting Jake to the MACR program. Jake represents the highest ideals of this award: he is committed to teamed discovery and exudes passion for the intersection of science and engineering. He was also recently selected to join an international MII contingent to visit Waseda University in Tokyo and foster an international student exchange program.

Please join MII in congratulating Bob Moore and Jake Fallon for this distinction, and please join us at their award ceremony at the MII Technical Conference and Review at the Skelton Conference Center at the Inn at Virginia Tech.