Dr. Hawker is director of the Materials Research Laboratory and Professor of Materials, Chemistry and Biochemisty at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to joining the university, he worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose. In addition to holding several endowed lectureships, Dr. Hawker is editor of the Journal of Polymer Science-Polymer Chemistry, and is adjunct professor of chemistry at the University of Queensland. He serves on scientific advisory boards of Symyx Technologies Inc., Microbar Systems Inc. and Warwick Effect Polymers Ltd. He is the recipient of several awards, including the 2000 Young Scientists Award from IUPAC, the 2001 Carl S. Marvel Award in Creative Polymer Science from the American Chemical Society and, with Professor Tom Russell, the 2003 Cooperative Research Award from the American Chemical Society. Dr. Hawker’s research has focused on the interface between organic and polymer chemistry with emphasis on the design, synthesis and application of well-defined macromolecular structures in biotechnology, microelectronics, and surface science. He holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Queensland and a Ph.D. degree in bioorganic chemistry from the University of Cambridge.