John R. Dorgan

Endowed Chairs College of Engineering

• David L. and Denise M. Lamp Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering
• Established through a gift from David L. and Denise M. Lamp

Bio

John R. Dorgan, the David L. and Denise M. Lamp Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering, is an expert in polymeric materials emphasizing the development of sustainable technologies to meet the world’s challenges. He is the first recipient of the endowed faculty position created in 2014.

Dorgan came to MSU from the Colorado School of Mines, where he guided a successful effort to organize C2B2—an industry-sponsored research center involving four institutions. He also served as a technical lead for the federal Institute for Advanced Composite Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), developing composite materials for wind turbines. MSU is a key partner in IACMI with an emphasis on vehicle lightweighting to improve performance and reduce costs.

A past president of the Bioenvironmental Polymer Society, Dorgan hopes to drive down the cost and time it takes to mold a wind turbine blade. At the same time, he is developing new resin systems that make the wind turbines easier to recycle. He has received more than $10 million in research funding from federal sources.

He received a BS in chemical engineering summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1986) and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley (1991). While studying at Berkeley, he was awarded a Hertz Fellowship. He completed postdoctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany.