Dr. Marc Hillmyer is a renowned chemist and the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota. Additionally, he serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Polymers (CSP) and Editor-in-Chief of ACS Macromolecules. He is widely recognized for his leadership in sustainable polymer science, focusing on the development of high-performance plastics from renewable resources that are both recyclable and biodegradable. Among his extensive achievements, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2026. We are honored to welcome Dr. Hillmyer back to his undergraduate alma mater, University of Florida, for NGRPC 2027!

Julia Kalow is the Dow Chemical Company Associate Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on the intersection of organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, and materials science, with an emphasis on utilizing light to control the synthesis and properties of soft materials. Dr. Kalow and her team has secured prestigious funding and awards from the AFOSR, the NSF CAREER program, and the Sloan Research Fellowship. Most recently, in May 2026, she was named a Brown Investigator Award recipient, becoming the first faculty member at Northwestern to receive this honor.