CU Boulder Gallogly Professor Tim White working with Dr. Brian Donovan, a post-doctoral researcher.
New CU Boulder Gallogly Professor Tim White loved working at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio, working his way up from a bench scientist to team leader over the years.
But one of the things he couldn’t do in those roles was work directly with students. He regularly interacted with the “finished products” in the form of post-doctorates but found himself missing the chance to guide students early in their career. So, when a position at CU Boulder opened up in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, he decided to make the switch to academia from federal service.
“As I thought about the next steps in my career, it occurred to me that I gained the most satisfaction in helping people develop themselves and realize their career goals,” he said. “It was a difficult choice to leave AFRL - I enjoyed the mission focus and was motivated by the opportunity to serve this great country. But this obviously is a really great place and the opportunity to join the faculty here to contribute to accomplishing the ambitious goals set forth by the college leadership was simply one that I couldn’t turn down.”
White added that CU Boulder is a perfect fit for him professionally, given the university’s world-class strength in soft materials research. White’s research has been focused primarily on liquid crystals and is highly complementary to ongoing CU Boulder research activities at the Soft Materials Research Center, a National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.
His focus is on programming “functional” responses, such as changes in shape or color. The practical applications of this work are varied, but one area of interest at AFRL was reconfigurable optics: changing the properties of things like eye glasses to reflect or absorb light. Such a material could be used to adjust the tint or amount of light transmission in pilots visors as they travel between different light conditions.
At CU Boulder, White will continue defense related research but is already seeking opportunities to explore using these materials as smart windows.
“You can imagine windows that would let in infrared light in the winter and keep it out in the summer, for example,” he said.
White said he was excited to join the Multi-Functional Materials Interdisciplinary Research Theme within the college, which brings together researchers from different departments and areas. He said collaborative groups like this were particularly important for his research, which happens “at the seams” of the different engineering disciplines.
“In my opinion, that is increasingly where research is going, and it is similar to how things were setup overall at AFRL. So I am very comfortable working with engineers and scientists from many disciplines,” he said. “You get this group of people that may or may not have collided with each other. And those collisions generate unexpected ideas and opportunities that result in better quality proposals, better student experiences and position the college to compete for large scale research opportunities as they come.”
White said he is also looking forward to making new partnerships in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department.
CU Boulder Gallogly Professor Tim White
“One of the exceptional strengths in our department is in biomaterials. That’s an area I wasn’t able to explore much before and really excites me,” he said. “I have a lot to learn on the topic and I look forward to the journey ahead.”
White serves in first Gallogly endowed professorship
Professor Tim White is the first Gallogly Endowed Professor in the history of the college – a new faculty position established by a 2016 gift from the Gallogly family.
James L. “Jim” Gallogly, his wife, Janet, and family donated $2.5 million to the College of Engineering and Applied Science in 2016. The funds were given with an eye to boosting the teaching and research power of the college and provide for two new faculty positions.
One of those positions is an endowed professorship in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department White has now filled. Endowed chairs and professorships help attract and retain scholars by providing them dedicated resources for innovative research and teaching opportunities. High-caliber researchers also attract the brightest graduate and undergraduate students and spur transformational advancements in society.
James is a 1974 graduate of the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and is the retired chief executive of LyondellBasell in Houston - a large polymers, petrochemicals and refining company. He previously held executive positions with ConocoPhillips, ChevronPhillips Chemical and Phillips Petroleum. He also serves on the college’s Engineering Advisory Council as an emeritus member. He is currently the president of Oklahoma University.
The Gallogly Discovery Learning Center, located at the corner of Colorado Avenue and Regent Drive, is named for the family’s gift to the college.