2026 Turner Alfrey Visiting Professor Lecture Series

John Torkelson is a Walter P. Murphy Professor at Northwestern University, where he has held several leadership roles, including Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the Engineering School and Director of the Materials Research Center. Prior to joining Northwestern, he earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. At Northwestern, John has won honors for teaching and advising excellence, including the Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Teaching Award, the Lilly Foundation Teaching Award, the Northwestern University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award, and both the McCormick School of Engineering Teacher of the Year Award and the McCormick School of Engineering Advisor of the Year Award. John has served as research advisor to seventy Ph.D. students, more than thirty M.S. students, and dozens of undergraduates. He has been recognized for research excellence via the Wiley Polymer Physics Award and the Charles M. Stine Award from the Materials Division of AIChE. In 2025, John was named a “highly ranked scholar” by ScholarGPS in three categories based on lifetime achievement, including #1 in “Transition Temperature”, #3 in “Glass Transition”, and #91 in “Polymer”.

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