The Hope College Office of the Dean for Natural and Applied Sciences invites the campus and Holland community to the annual Gentile Interdisciplinary Lectureship, featuring renowned researcher Dr. Thomas H. Epps, III. The free lecture will take place on Wed., Oct. 21, from 5 to 6 p.m. in Winants Auditorium, located in Graves Hall on the Hope College campus. The campus and community are invited to attend.
Dr. Epps is the Allan & Myra Ferguson Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
at the University of Delaware (UD) with a joint appointment in materials science &
engineering. He is director of the Center for Research in Soft Matter & Polymers (CRiSP),
director of the new NSF MRSEC at UD called CHARM (Center for Hybrid, Active and Responsive
Materials) and deputy director of the new DOE EFRC at UD called CPI (Center for Plastics
Innovation). Dr. Epps is also an associate editor for Science Advances, a member of the DOE Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, and co-founder and
chief scientific officer of Lignolix, Inc. — a start-up focused on valorization of
biomass waste. Dr. Epps has been featured in more than 180 publications, has 16 patents
and several technologies under development. He has launched several startup companies
and runs a small consulting firm.
Dr. Epps has received several honors and awards including: the William W. Grimes Award (AIChE, 2021), Percy L. Julian Award (NOBCChE, 2020); John H. Dillon Medal (APS, 2016); Owens-Corning Early Career Award (AIChE, 2015) and others. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2017, Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2018, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2021, Polymers Division of the American Chemical Society in 2021, the American Chemical Society in 2021 and the National Academy of Inventors in 2022.
The Gentile Interdisciplinary Lectureship at Hope was established in 2005 by faculty colleagues, former students and friends of Dr. James Gentile, who joined the Hope faculty in 1976. He served as dean for the natural and applied sciences division from 1988 to 2005, when he became president of Research Corporation, a private foundation in Tucson, Ariz. After retiring from Research Corporation, he returned to Hope to serve a two-year appointment as dean from July 2013 through June 2015.