Richard J. Spontak

Richard John Spontak (born 1961, Pottsville, Pennsylvania) is an American chemical engineer and polymer materials scientist. He is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Spontak has collaborated extensively with researchers at international institutions, including the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Early life and education Spontak was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1961 and resided with his parents (Peter and Helen D. Spontak) in Saint Clair, Pennsylvania. In 1975, he was the Pottsville Republican Spelling Bee champion and participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1983 from the Pennsylvania State University. Later supervised by Michael C. Williams, Spontak received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1988.

He subsequently pursued post-doctoral research in liquid crystalline polymers with Alan H. Windle at the University of Cambridge (UK) and in small-angle scattering with and Jon Samseth at the Institute for Energy Technology (Norway).

Spontak began his career as a researcher in the Corporate Research Division at The Procter and Gamble Company, where he remained from 1990 until 1992.

He has also held visiting appointments at various universities around the world, including the Lars Onsager Professor at NTNU in Norway, Erudite Professor at the Mahatma Gandhi University in India, Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Freiburg in Germany, and Tewkesbury Fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

He has sat on the advisory boards of more than 20 international journals and holds editorial positions in three of them as of 2023. 2007 – Ernst Ruska Prize, German Electron Microscopy Society 2008 – Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award, American Chemical Society (Rubber Division) 2022 – SPSJ International Award, Society of Polymer Science (Japan) 2022 – Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings, American Chemical Society (PMSE Division) 2022 – Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, North Carolina State University 2023 – Underwood Medal, Institution of Chemical Engineers 2024 – Medal for Excellence, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (UK) 2025 – Walston Chubb Award for Innovation, Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honor Society 2025 – Hollomon Award for Materials and Society, Acta Materialia, Inc

Affiliations Spontak is currently a fellow of the American Physical Society, American Chemical Society (PMSE Division), Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, International Association of Advanced Materials, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Society of Plastics Engineers. He is also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences.