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Fred Wudl, Professor of Chemistry and Materials and Co-Director of the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), received his B.S. (1964) and Ph.D. (1967) degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where his dissertation work was done with Professor Donald J. Cram. After postdoctoral research with R.B. Woodward at Harvard, he joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo. He then moved, first in 1972 to AT&T Bell Laboratories, and subsequently to UCSB in 1982, and then UCLA from 1997 to 2006. He is widely known for his work on organic conductors and superconductors with the discovery of the electronic conductivity of the precursor to the first organic metal and superconductor. His interest in electronically conducting polymers resulted in discovery of the first transparent organic conductor and the first self-doped polymers. Currently Fred is interested in the optical and electrooptical properties of processable conjugated polymers as well as in the organic chemistry of fullerenes and the design and preparation of self-mending and self-healing materials. He has received numerous awards and honors and has published over 500 papers.

Awards and Honors

• Stephanie L. Kwolek Award, Royal Society of Chemistry
• Professional Achievement Award, University of California, Los Angeles
• Tolman Medal of the SCALACS
• Merck-Karl Pfister Visiting Professor in Organic Chemistry, MIT
• Professor C.N.R. Rao Lecture Award of CRSI
• Honorary Fellow, Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI)
• D.Sc. (Honoris Causa), Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
• Herbert Newby McCoy Award
• Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Alumnus of the Year Award from Los Angeles City College
• American Chemical Society Award for Chemistry of Materials
• Bayer Lecturer, Cornell University
• Wheland Medal, University of Chicago
• The "Giulio Natta" Medal, Rome
• Clapp Lecturer, Brown University
• Arthur D. Little Award
• Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award
• Stouffer Award, USC
• Visiting Scientist at the C.N.R.S. "Postes Rouge" Orsay, France
• William Rauscher Lecturer in Chemistry Award
• Karcher Lecturer, University of Oklahoma
• Peter A. Leermakers Lecturer
• 3M Lecturer, University of British Columbia
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peter A. Leermakers Lecturer

Academic Positions

• Co-Director CPOS, University of California, Santa Barbara (2006 - Present)
• Professor of Chemistry and Materials (2006 - Present)
• Acting Associate Director, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara (2008 - 2009)
• Dean M. Willard Professor of Chemistry (formerly Courtaulds Professor of Chemistry), University of California, Los Angeles (1997 - 2006)
• Professor, Chemistry and Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara (1994 - 1997)
• Professor, Chemistry and Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara (1982 - 1994)
• Supervising Member, Technical Staff, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey (1974 - 1982)
• Member, Technical Staff, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey (1972 - 1974)
• Assistant Professor, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York (1968 - 1972)

Hobbies

RC Flyer

Fred is an avid remote controlled (RC) airplane hobbyist. As a young child in Cochabamba, Bolivia, he was fascinated with airplanes and wanted to become a fighter pilot but this interest morphed into building and flying model airplanes through the coaching of an American missionary. By the time he left Bolivia he was designing and flying his own creations. A member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, over the years Fred has owned approximately 100 model planes and presently has 15 resting in his garage-workshop. Depending on the plane, he flies them on weekends on the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve / Viola Fields, high up on a ridge overlooking Santa Barbara called the Knapp's Castle ruins, or on the bluffs above Ellwood beach. His latest RC plane, a Radian glider with a six-foot wingspan, is the largest one to-date. "If I'm flying a glider it's relaxing. The goal is to keep it in the air as long as possible," Fred said. "When I fly a scale-model RC plane, it's the enjoyment of just watching a plane fly."

Music Afficianado

Classical music is Fred's muse and you can find him plugged into his MP3 player while working in his office. He and Linda are season ticket holders and sponsors of the Santa Barbara Symphony, but occasionally Fred will take center stage in some impromptu jazz percussion.