Dr. C. Michael Roland, chemist and senior scientist for soft matter physics in the Chemistry Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Roland is recognized by the APS for important experimental contributions and physical insight into the temperature and pressure dependence of the dynamics of polymeric systems.
Roland holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Grove City College, Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to coming to NRL in 1986, Roland was employed by the Firestone Central Research Laboratory in Akron, Ohio, with a focus on rubber and fiber research and development. At NRL, Roland continues his studies in the viscoelastic, mechanical and dielectric properties of materials, and most recently have employed elastomeric coatings for application in military armor.
Roland was editor of Rubber Chemistry & Technology from 1991 to 1999, and has served on editorial boards including Macromolecules, Advances in Chemistry, and the American Chemical Society (ACS) Symposium Series. He has consulted for various companies, including Acushnet, Allied-Signal, Bridgestone, Fujikura Rubber, Watts Radiant, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, Roland chaired the 1999 Gordon Research Conference on Elastomers, Networks, and Gels and the 1996 International Rubber Science Hall of Fame Symposium.
Author of over 390 peer-review publications, 24 book chapters, 16 patents, and the book Viscoelastic Behavior of Rubbery Materials (Oxford Univ. Press, 2011), Roland's publications have been cited 11,000 times, earning an H-index of 53. He has been an advisor to 21 postdoctoral researchers at NRL and has given142 lectures at conferences and workshops, including four Gordon Research Conferences talks.
Roland was also the recipient of the NRL E.O. Hulburt Award (2010), the Sigma Xi Pure Science Award (2002), the NRL Edison Award (2000), the ACS Charles Goodyear Medal (2012), and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (United Kingdom).