Richard J. Spontak is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). He received his BS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the Pennsylvania State University (1983) and the University of California at Berkeley (1988), respectively, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge and the Institutt for Energiteknikk before joining Procter & Gamble and, in 1992, NCSU.
Spontak’s research focuses on nanostructured polymers and nanocomposites for diverse applications requiring functional or responsive materials. He received the 2006 American Chemical Society Cooperative Research Award (PMSE Division) and the 2005 NCSU Alumni Outstanding Research Award. Spontak serves or has served on the editorial boards of Macromolecules, Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, and Materials Today. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, and his work has been featured on 14 journal covers and one book cover.