Professor
Thomas G. Mason
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Department of Physics and Astronomy
California NanoSystems Institute
University of California- Los Angeles
mason@chem.ucla.edu
Prof. Mason received dual B.S. degrees in physics (with high honors) and electrical engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Maryland- College Park in 1989. Awarded an NSF graduate fellowship, he studied soft condensed matter physics at Princeton University and earned his Ph.D. in physics in 1995. His dissertation work revealed the roles of the glass transition and the jamming transition in the onset of low-frequency elasticity in concentrated, disordered colloidal dispersions of solid spheres and liquid droplets. Mason also created a new conceptual approach and developed an optical experimental method for measuring linear viscoelastic mechanical properties of soft materials; this approach is now known as thermal-entropic “passive” microrheology.
Prof. Mason’s first postdoctoral position was at the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal (CNRS) in Bordeaux, France, where he explored the complex structure-flow-composition interplay in emulsification. His second postdoctoral position was in chemical and bio-engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where he developed the first particle tracking microrheology experiments and demonstrated these on biopolymer solutions, including ds-DNA. As a staff scientist and PI at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co., starting in 1997, he led research in light and small angle neutron scattering from asphaltenes in hydrocarbon systems involving heavy oils, resulting in two US patents and an internal commercialization that improved refinery productivity.
Joining UCLA in 2003 as an assistant professor of chemistry and of physics, he advanced to full professor in both departments in 2009. Prof. Mason leads an interdisciplinary research group that addresses important fundamental and applied questions in soft matter, biophysics, drug formulation and delivery, and translational medicine. Current topics being studied by Prof. Mason’s group are: lithographic pre-assembly and self-assembly of systems of custom-shaped colloidal particles as molecular mimics, fabricating complex nanoemulsions via non-equilibrium routes for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, modeling and improving passive microrheology, and passivated gel electrophoresis. Prof. Mason has over 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, PNAS, PRL, and JACS, and 15 issued US patents, 13 of which are based on research at UCLA. He is a fellow and life member of the American Physical Society, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of NSF’s Career Award.
Honors and Awards
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Rheologica Acta Publication Award
Fellow of the American Physical Society (Division of Condensed Matter Physics)
Herbert Newby McCoy Award for Research Excellence (UCLA Chem. & Biochem.)
Gallery of Fluid Motion Award (AIP/American Physical Society DFD)
Intel New Faculty Award (Intel Corporation)
Glenn T. Seaborg Award (Beta Gamma Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity)
Gallery of Fluid Motion Award (AIP/American Physical Society DFD)
NSF CAREER Award (National Science Foundation)
John McTague Chair (UCLA Chem. & Biochem.)
Exxon Graduate Research Fellow (Exxon Research and Engineering, Co.)
NSF Graduate Research Fellow (National Science Foundation)
Joseph Henry Prize in Physics (Princeton University)
Summa Cum Laude with High Honors in Physics (University of Maryland)
Outstanding Achievement Award: School of Engineering (University of Maryland)
Chancellor’s Scholar (University of Maryland)
Maryland Distinguished Scholar (State of Maryland)
Current Graduate Students
Matthew Pagenkopp
– California State Polytechnic University, Pomona – Pomona, CA
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, 2013
Yixuan Xu
– B.S. in Polymer Materials and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. June 2017
Shang-Lin Tsai
– M.S. in Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles. June 2018
– B.S. in Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles. June 2018
Tianren Yu
– Bachelor of Science, Nanjing University
Edgar Elias
Orin Yue
Postdoctoral Alumni
Fred Cardinaux
Thomas Cubaud
Jung-Ren Huang
Manas Khan
Clayton Lapointe
Laura Rossi
Dongshe (John) Zhang
Kun Zhao
Graduate Student Alumni
Dimitri Bikos
Connie Chang
Michael Fryd
Sara Graves Harvey
Carlos Hernandez
Terry Kennair
Ha Seong Kim
Maxim Marshalik
Kenny Mayoral
Kieche Meleson
Po-Yuan Wang
Jim Wilking
Xiaoming Zhu
Undergraduate Alumni
Jay Dunkelberger (REU Physics, to UCLA – Physics Grad. School)
Robert Esposito (to UC Berkeley – Law School)
Wade Hodson (REU Physics, to U. Maryland – Physics Grad. School)
Jim Hughes (to UC Davis – Chemistry Grad. School)
Tina Li (to Northwestern Univ. – Chemistry Grad. School)
Nikolaos (Niko) Mouchtouris (to Thomas Jefferson Univ. – Med. School)
Jake Rothenbuhler (to Bay Area company
Clair Seager (to NYU Soft Matter Physics – Grad. School)
