Stuart Rowan is the Barry L. MacLean Professor of Molecular Engineering and Director of the Materials and Sustainability Engineering Research Theme at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. He is also Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.
Prof. Rowan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and grew up in Troon, Ayrshire, on Scotland’s west coast. He received his BSc (Hons.) in Chemistry in 1991 from the University of Glasgow and stayed there for graduate school in the laboratory of Dr. David D. MacNicol, receiving his PhD in 1995. In 1994 he moved to the chemistry department at the University of Cambridge to work with Prof. Jeremy K. M. Sanders FRS. He moved across the Atlantic, and the continental U.S., to continue his postdoctoral studies with Prof. Sir J. Fraser Stoddart FRS at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998. In 1999 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor to the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2005, and became a Full Professor in 2008. In 2016, he joined the Institute for Molecular Engineering (now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. He also has a staff appointment in the Chemical and Engineering Science (CSE) Division at Argonne National Laboratory.
He is a National Science Foundation CAREER awardee, received the Morley Medal (Cleveland ACS) in 2013, the CWRU Distinguished University Award in 2015, and the Herman Mark Scholar Award (ACS) in 2015. He is an ACS Fellow, an ACS POLY Fellow, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Macro Letters (https://pubs.acs.org/journal/amlccd), and is on the editorial advisory board for a number of journals.
He has published over 170 scientific papers and reviews. His research interests focus on the use of dynamic chemistry (covalent and non-covalent) in the construction and properties of structurally dynamic and adaptive polymeric materials. The current interests of his group span responsive polymers, sustainable materials, polymers for energy, biomaterials, and new polymer synthesis. Specifically, his group works on supramolecular polymers, dynamic covalent polymers, self-healing materials, responsive adhesives, metal-containing polymers, gels, biomaterials, cellulose nanocrystal/nanocellulose, and interlocked polymeric architectures.
Rowan Group focuses on studying the chemistry of non-covalent interactions (supramolecular chemistry). This is embodied by studying the synthesis of metallosupramolecular and stimuli-resonsive polymers; isolation and utilization of cellulose nanocrystals in biomimetic and porous systems; and finally, reversible covalent chemistry.
Manipulating dynamic covalent bonds through direct photoisomerization
Dolinski, N.D.; Crolais, A.E.; Boynton, N.R.; Chen, C.; de Pablo, J.J.; Snyder, S.A.; Rowan, S.J. Manipulating dynamic covalent bonds through direct photoisomerization Chem. Sci. 2025, DOI: 10.1039/D5SC06704A
Multipotent elastomers via tempering of phase-separated dynamic covalent networks
Nicholas R. Boynton, N.R.; Bennett, C.M.; Hagan, T.D.; Solymosy, G.R.; Lindberg, C.A.; Schaller, N.A.; Vivod, S.L.; Patel, S.N.; Rowan, S.J. Multipotent elastomers via tempering of phase-separated dynamic covalent networks ACS Macro Lett. 2025, 14, 1728–1734. DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00653
Depolymerization as a Design Strategy: Depolymerization Etching of Polymerization-Induced Microphase Separations
Kaden C. Stevens, K.C.; Lott, M.E.; Treaster, K.A.; O’Dea, R.M.; Adarsh Suresh, A.; Cabell B. Eades, C.B.; Thompson, V.L.; Bowman, J.I.; Young, J.B.; Evans, A.M.; Rowan, S.J.; Epps III, T.H.; Sumerlin, B.S. Depolymerization as a Design Strategy: Depolymerization Etching of Polymerization-Induced Microphase Separations ACS Cent. Sci. 2025, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.5c01313
Balancing strength, toughness, and shrinkage in 3D porous carbon architectures through partial carbonization of template-coating pairs
Suresh, A.; Sengokmen-Ozsoz, N.; Ye, A.; Lovejoy, J.; Campos, M.; Makris, E.; Claeyssens, F.; Liu, C.; Rowan, S.J. Balancing strength, toughness, and shrinkage in 3D porous carbon architectures through partial carbonization of template-coating pairs Polymer 2025, in press. 10.1016/j.polymer.2025.129217
Designing Thermally Compatible Template-Coating Pairs Toward Dimensionally Stable 3D Porous Carbons with Tunable Density
Suresh, A.; Campos, M.; Xie, K.; Makris, E.; Lovejoy, J.; El Shamsy, M.; Liu, C.; Rowan, S.J. Designing Thermally Compatible Template-Coating Pairs Toward Dimensionally Stable 3D Porous Carbons with Tunable Density Adv. Func. Mater. 2025, Early View. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202515814
Structure–property relationships of responsive doubly-threaded slide-ring polycatenane networks
Liu, G.; Oh, J; Tian, Y.; Hertzog, J.E.; Liang, H.; Rawe, B.W.; Nitta, N.; Lindberg, C.A.; Kim, H.; de Pablo, J.J. and Rowan, S.J. Structure–property relationships of responsive doubly-threaded slide-ring polycatenane networks Chem. Sci. 2025, 16, 19192-19204. DOI: 10.1039/D5SC05459A
Real‐Time Phosphate Monitoring via Plant‐Derived Graphene Ink FET Sensors Integrated with Deep Learning
Ghosh, R.; Zhang, F.; Jang, H.-J.; Hui, J.; Vittore, K.; You, H.; Vepa, R.; Zhuang, W.; Huang, X.; Pu, H.; Elam, J. W.; Rowan, S.J.; Lee, D.; Ainsworth, E.A.; Hersam, M.C.; Chen, Y.; Chen, J. Real‐Time Phosphate Monitoring via Plant‐Derived Graphene Ink FET Sensors Integrated with Deep Learning Energy Environ. Mater. 2025, e70144. DOI: 10.1002/eem2.70144
Short-Time Relaxation and Anomalous Diffusion in Dynamic Covalent Networks
Kim, H.; Li, K.; Crolais, A.E., Rowan, S.J. Short-Time Relaxation and Anomalous Diffusion in Dynamic Covalent Networks ACS Macro Lett. 2025 14, 1375-1381. DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00456
Dense suspensions as trainable rheological metafluids
Kim, H.; Livermore, S.M.; Rowan, S.J.; Jaeger, H.M. Dense suspensions as trainable rheological metafluids Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2025 122, e2509525122. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2509525122
Thermoreversibly Assembled Polymersomes for Highly Efficient Loading, Processing, and Delivery of Protein and siRNA Biologics
Hossainy, S.; Kang, S.; Emiliano Gómez Medellín, J.; Alpar, A.T.; Refvik, K.C.; Ma, Y.; Vuong, I.; Chang, K.; Wang, T.; Solanki, A.; Rowan, S.J.; Hubbell, J.A. Thermoreversibly Assembled Polymersomes for Highly Efficient Loading, Processing, and Delivery of Protein and siRNA Biologics Nature Bioeng. 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01469-7