Distinguished Honorary Alumni Award Recipient
Otto Vogl
Dr. Otto Vogl is a Professor Emeritus of Polymer Science at UMass Amherst and the Herman F. Mark Professor Emeritus of the Polytechnic University in New York. He is a pioneer in the field of polymer science, most noted for his work on the polymerization of higher aldehydes and the importance of the ceiling temperature of polymerization.
As a young man in Austria, Vogl began his studies in chemistry at the University of Vienna and continued until he received his doctorate degree in 1950. In 1953, he accepted a position as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Michigan and then at Princeton University. Following this brief exposure to American academia, Vogl began a 13-year industrial career with the Du Pont Company.
A desire to advance the study of polymers led Vogl to return to academia in 1970 as a professor with the newly created Polymer Science and Engineering Department at UMass Amherst. After helping to bring the UMass Amherst department to national prominence, Vogl concluded his career as the first endowed chair in polymer science at Polytechnic University.
Vogl was chairman of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Chemistry and president of the Pacific Polymer Federation. He is a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the recipient of numerous awards and medals. His extensive writings include over 630 articles and scientific papers. He was on the editorial board of many polymer related journals and was for years the editor-in-chief of Progress in Polymer Science, an international review journal.