Thai Thayumanavan Awarded for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity at the 2013 Faculty Convocation

Sankaran "Thai" Thayumanavan's research spans a broad realm from cancer therapy using novel drug delivery vehicles to generating organic solar-cell materials. His research is most innovative in its design of new and often unorthodox molecules and materials that result in breakthroughs in important areas. One recent such example is Thayumanavan's work in developing fundamentally new molecular design algorithms for nanomaterials that predictably respond to subtle variations in their environment.

Thayumanavan is further renowned for his ability to arrive at practical molecular systems to solve important problems, such as polymer nanogels that are capable of delivering both proteins and small hydrophobic molecules to targeted cells and sub-cellular compartments. His stature in his field is attested to by the extraordinary number of presentations he has been invited to make at international conferences.

On campus Thayumanavan is celebrated for his great success in winning National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grant funding and in securing large center grants that benefit many researchers.

Education: BS, American College (Madurai, India), 1987; MS, American College, 1989; PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1996.
Significant Honors: Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar Award, 2002; Discussion Leader, “Chemistry of Supramolecules and Assemblies” Gordon Conference, 2005; Burlew Award, American Chemical Society, Connecticut Valley Section, 2008; Fellow (elected), American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, 2011; Member, International Advisory Boards, Polytech (India) and the Federation of Asian Polymer Societies, 2013; Scientific Co-Leader, Bioactive Delivery Concept Team, Mass Life Science Center, 2013.

Source: UMass Faculty Convocation