Timothy M. Swager

Dr. Swager is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry, and formerly the Head of the Chemistry Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1988 and was a post-doctoral fellow at MIT from ’88 to ’90. He joined the University of Pennsylvania in ’90 as Assistant Professor of Chemistry & later promoted to Full Professor. He joined MIT as Full Professor in 1996. From ’02 to ’05 he was the Associate Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN).

Dr. Swager’s research is broadly focused on supramolecular and materials chemistry. He is interested in a spectrum of topics with an emphasis on the synthesis and construction of functional assemblies. Molecular recognition pervades a great deal of his research. Chemosensors require recognition elements to discriminate chemical signals. Electronic polymers are one of the areas that his group is well known for having made many innovations.

Dr. Swager’s group is constantly developing new electronic structures, properties, and uses for these materials. He and his group continue to be key contributors to the ISN. Dr. Swager is working with Nano-C in the area of dispersion of nanotubes in polymeric materials and is interested in applications such as actuators and transparent conducting films.