Harold Pender Professor Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
University of Pennsylvania
winey@seas.upenn.edu
215.898.0593
Hometown: Warminster, PA
Karen I. Winey is the Harold Pender Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania with appointments in both Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Karen’s research focuses on the nanoscale structures in ionomers and associating polymers to improve mechanical and transport properties, and her groups had recently discovered new structures in several precise polyethylenes. Karen studies the mechanic, thermal and electrical properties of polymer nanocomposites, as well as polymer dynamics and diffusion in the presence of nanoparticles and in nanoconfinement. Karen frequently couples experimental studies with simulation and theory via collaboration. Karen has delivered over 260 invited lectures, holds 21 patents and has published over 235 papers.
Karen received her B.S. in materials science from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She completed a postdoctoral position at AT&T Bell Laboratories before joining Penn. During her 2014-15 sabbatical leave she was a Visiting Miller Research Professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a Visiting Scholar at the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Karen recently completed a 5-year term as department chair.
Outside of work, Dr. Winey enjoys bicycling, hiking, and going to new and favorite restaurants with friends. She is also a big fan of the National Parks.
Selected Honors and Awards
- ACS Polymer Chemistry Award, American Chemical Society 2023:
- “For outstanding contributions to the understanding and advancement of polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers, particularly structural control and transport dynamics.”
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science 2022
- “For distinguished contributions to the field of polymer science, particularly in the understanding of and manipulation of unique polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers.”
- Plenary Speaker, POLY/PMSE Division, American Chemical Society Spring 2022
- Fellow, POLY (Division of Polymer Chemistry) American Chemical Society, 2021
- Braskem Award, Materials Engr. and Sci. Division, Am. Inst. of Chemical Engineering, 2020
- Mark J. Herman Senior Scholar Award, POLY, American Chemical Society, 2020
- Trustees Council of PennWomen Award for Undergraduate Advising , 2017
- Fellow, PMSE (Polymeric Materials: Science and Energy Division) American Chemical Society, 2016
- Visiting Miller Research Professor, Miller Institute, University of California, Berkeley, 2014
- TowerBrook Foundation Faculty Fellow, 2013
- Fellow, Materials Research Society, 2013
- George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, 2012
- National Science Foundation, Special Creativity Award, 2009-2011
- Fellow, American Physical Society, 2003
- Associate Editor, Macromolecules, 2010-2014
- Chair Elect, Vice Chair, Chair, Past Chair, Division of Polymer Physics, American Physical Society, 2011-2015
- Chair, Polymer Physics, Gordon Research Conference, 2010
- Guest Editor, MRS Bulletin, 2007