LSU Chemistry professor receives Southwest Regional ACS Award
October 18, 2023
John A. Pojman Sr., William and Patricia Senn, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the LSU Department of Chemistry
BATON ROUGE - John A. Pojman Sr., William and Patricia Senn, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the LSU Department of Chemistry, is the recipient of the 2023 Southwest Regional ACS Award.
The award recognizes Pojman's exceptional contributions to the promotion and advancement of the field of chemistry while in the Southwest Region of the American Chemical Society, or ACS.
Since 2008, Pojman has served as a professor of macromolecular chemistry at LSU. His research interests encompass areas of frontal polymerization, nonlinear phenomena in polymeric systems, cure-on-demand polymerization, and materials used in art.
Pojman is a co-inventor on five patents, with two recently awarded. In collaboration with scientists at the LSU AgCenter, Pojman developed a bait system to reduce feral pig populations, safeguarding crops, humans, and other wildlife. Furthermore, Pojman, along with former graduate student Dr. Anowar Khan and LSU Chemical Engineering Associate Professor Adam Melvin, co-invented a patented apparatus for generating realistic 3D tumor cultures and facilitating rapid on-chip drug testing.
Pojman also serves as the president of Pojman Polymer Products, LLC, or 3P, and affectionately refers to himself as the 3PCEO. His business has licensed products with international distribution for artists and DIY enthusiasts. The products enable modeling clay, wood filler, and home repair putty to "cure-on-demand" and are based on his work with frontal polymerization.
For over 30 years, Pojman has maintained a successful research and mentoring program. He has over 319 scientific presentations, 181 peer-reviewed articles, 15 book chapters, and coauthored a monograph. Pojman not only oversees a lab with graduate students but also demonstrates a strong commitment to offering research opportunities to undergraduates. Since 1990, more than 185 undergraduate students have collaborated with him on research projects.
Pojman will be presented with the award at the 2023 Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society Awards Banquet on November 16th in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. To learn more about Professor Pojman's research interests and hobbies, visit his research group webpage and website.
