Professor Craig J. Hawker, FRS is Clarke Professor and holds the Alan and Ruth Heeger Chair of Interdisciplinary Science at UCSB where he directs the California Nanosystems Institute and the Dow Materials Institute. He came to UCSB in 2004 after eleven years as a Research Staff Member at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA. Professor Hawker’s research activities focus on synthetic polymer chemistry and nanotechnology, integrating fundamental studies with the development of nanostructured materials for advanced properties and functions in microelectronics and biotechnology.  This work has led to over 450 peer-reviewed papers and 60 patents with Professor Hawker helping to establish a range of start-up companies - Relypsa, Intermolecular, Olaplex, Tricida. For his pioneering studies, Professor Hawker’s recent honors include the 2013 American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry, the 2012 Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry and an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society in 2011. Professor Hawker has been honored with election to the Royal Society as well as being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and American Association for the Advancement of Science.