David A. Tirrell

Tirrell earned a B.S. in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1974. He received a Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where his thesis advisor was Professor Otto Vogl. In 1978, he held a postdoctoral position at Kyoto University.

Tirrell was a faculty member in the department of chemistry at Carnegie-Mellon University from 1978 to 1984. He served as the director of the materials research laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1978 to 1998. He moved to Caltech in 1998 and served as chairman of the division of chemistry and chemical engineering at Caltech from 1999 until 2009. He edited the Journal of Polymer Science from 1988 to 1999.

Tirrell applies principles from biology and chemistry to polymer synthesis. Recognizing that most synthetic polymers are mixtures, rather than pure substances, he developed pioneering techniques for the creation of precisely defined polymers of uniform structure. Tirrell and his co-workers have formed crystals, liquid crystals and gels with predetermined, programmable molecular architectures and accompanying properties. His work in macromolecular synthesis underlies the development of "smart" materials, which respond to external cues like temperature, pH, chemical reagents, or light.

Tirrell has gone on to make important contributions to protein biosynthesis, effectively reprogramming the genetic code of biological cells to produce artificial, protein-like macromolecules. Specialized macromolecules may provide materials for use in surgery and regenerative medicine. Areas that he is exploring include the use of artificial amino acids in the preparation of proteins, the evolution of novel proteins, and analysis of cellular processes.

He is one of very few American scientists to have been elected to all three branches of the United States National Academies: the National Academy of Sciences (2006), the National Academy of Engineering (2008), and the Institute of Medicine (2011). He was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019.