Paula T. Hammond

Institute Professor, Vice Provost for Faculty

Chemical Engineering allows you to manipulate matter in new and exciting ways, to be able to build something truly incredible that hadn’t been imagined before. By understanding how and why molecules assemble, flow, move and react together, it is possible to create, design and control a world of things.

Research Interests

macromolecular design and synthesis, targeted drug delivery for cancer, nanoscale assembly of synthetic biomaterials, electrostatic and directed materials assembly

Education

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993

M.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1988

S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984

Publications

Honors and Awards

Othmer Gold Medal, 2024

Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, 2024

James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award, 2023-24

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), 2021

Inaugural Black in Cancer Distinguished Investigator Award, 2021

MIT Institute Professor, 2021

MRS Turnbull Lectureship Award from the Materials Research Society, 2019

AIChE’s Margaret H. Rousseau Pioneer Award, 2019

Elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 2019

ACS Nat'l Award in Applied Polymer Science, 2018

Elected to the National Academy of Engineering, 2017

Elected to the National Academy of Medicine, 2016

Elected AIChE Fellow, 2016

Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research, 2014

Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2013

Charles M.A. Stine Award, 2013

Ovarian Cancer Research Program Teal Innovator Award, 2013

Elected Fellow, ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLY), 2012

Distinguished Scientist Award, the Harvard Foundation, 2010

Elected AIMBE Fellow, 2010

Bayer Distinguished Lecturer, 2004

Georgia Tech Outstanding Young Alumni Award, 2004

Radcliffe Institute Fellow, Harvard University, 2003

Henry Hill Lecturer Award, 2002

Junior Bose Faculty Award, 2000

GenCorp Signature University Award, 2000

Lloyd Ferguson Young Scientist Award, 2000

NSF Career Award, 1997

EPA Early Career Award, 1996

DuPont Young Faculty Award, 1996

3M Innovation Fund Award, 1995

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemistry, Harvard University, 1994

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow, 1992

MIT Karl Taylor Compton Prize, 1992

Eastman Kodak Theophilus Sorrel Fellow, 1990