Robert T. Mathers

In 2003, when I was a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell, Paul Anastas visited the Chemistry Department and gave a seminar on the current trends in green chemistry. I was struck by the need to better understand methods that could reduce the large impact polymers were having on society and the environment, so I starting reading one of Paul’s books entitled Designing Safer Polymers. In chapters 1 and 2, he did a very nice job of identifying underlying principles that eventually helped contribute to my research agenda at Penn State.