John A. Rogers

John A. Rogers is a physical chemist and a materials scientist. He is currently the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University.

Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin in 1989, followed by SM degrees in physics and in chemistry from MIT in 1992 and a PhD degree in physical chemistry from MIT in 1995.

He joined the Bell Laboratories condensed matter physics research department in 1997. In 2002 he was appointed to a Swanlund Chair at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, with a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He moved to Northwestern in 2016.

Rogers' research seeks to exploit characteristics of 'soft' materials, such as polymers, liquid crystals, and biological tissues as well as hybrid combinations of them with unusual classes of micro/nanomaterials, in the form of ribbons, wires, membranes, tubes or related. The aim is to control and induce novel electronic and photonic responses in these materials; and also develop new 'soft lithographic' and biomimetic approaches for patterning them and guiding their growth. This work combines fundamental studies with forward-looking engineering efforts in a way that promotes positive feedback between the two. Current research focuses on soft materials for conformal electronics, nanophotonic structures, microfluidic devices, and microelectromechanical systems, all lately with an emphasis on bio-inspired and bio-integrated technologies.

Rogers’ research deals with nano and molecular scale fabrication, materials, and patterning techniques for electronic and photonic devices,emphasizing bio-integrated systems. He has published over 450 papers, and is an inventor on over 80 patents and patent applications, more than 50 of which are licensed or in current use.

• Honorary Professor, Zhejiang University (2016)
• A.C. Eringen Medal of the Society for Engineering Science (2014),
• Smithsonian Award for American Ingenuity in the Physical Sciences (2013),
• Robert Henry Thurston Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2013),
• Lemelson-MIT Prize (2011)
• MacArthur Fellowship (2009)
• George Smith Award from the IEEE (2009)
• Leo Hendrick Baekeland Award from the American Chemical Society (2007)
• Member, National Academy of Engineering (2011)
• Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences ( 2014)
• Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2009)
• Fellow American Physical Society (2006)
• Fellow Materials Research Society (2007)
• Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008)
• Fellow, National Academy of Inventors ( 2013)
• Doctorate honoris causa from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). (2013)