Fred Wudl
Institute Role
Member of Production & Storage Solutions Group
Role in Affiliated Centers
Co-Director of the Center for Polymers & Organic Solids;
Member of the Center for Energy Efficient Materials and the Mitsubishi Chemical
Center for Advanced Materials
Research
Fred Wudl 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 the discovery of the first
transparent organic conductor and the first self-doped polymers. Currently, he
performs research on plastic solar cells with the goal of developing new
materials to improve the efficiency of the solar cells within the concepts
developed at UCSB over a decade ago, as well as employing possible new concepts.
Wudl is also researching the design and synthesis of organic molecules and
polymers for applications in organic light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additional
research interests include the optical and electro-optical properties of
processable conjugated polymers, as well as the organic chemistry of fullerenes
and the design and preparation of self-mending and self-healing materials.
Biography
Fred Wudl, Professor of Chemistry and Materials at UC Santa Barbara, received
B.S. (1964) and Ph.D. (1967) degrees from the University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA). After postdoctoral research 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 to UCLA
from 1997 to 2006. In 2006, Wudl returned to UCSB where he now serves as Co-Director
of the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS) and Acting Associate
Director, California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). He has received numerous
awards from all over the globe including Honorary Fellow, Chemistry Research
Society of India; Doctor Honoris Causa, Madrid, Spain; the American Chemical
Society Award for Chemistry of Materials; and the Tolman Medal for outstanding
contributions to chemistry. Wudl was named a Fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science in 1989 and has published over 500 papers.
