Christopher J. Ellison is the Piercy Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. From 2008-2016, he was a faculty member in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin where he was also affiliated with the Texas Materials Institute and the Materials Science and Engineering program. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University in 2005. Chris is a Senior Investigator in the National Science Foundation Center for Sustainable Polymers headquartered at the University of Minnesota. His group’s current research interests include structure, dynamics and processing of micro- and nano-structured polymers, light-activated chemistries for thin film patterning and fiber manufacturing, and synthesis/engineering of sustainable materials. He is recipient of numerous awards including the National Science Foundation's CAREER Award, DuPont Young Professor Award, 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, AIChE Owens Corning Early Career Award and Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research from the Welch Foundation.