Prof. Melissa Gordon ’11 earns distinguished Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award 

Melissa Gordon ’11, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering known for mentoring and inspiring students, has received a 2025 Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award for her research on making polymers safer, more durable, and more sustainable.

Melissa Gordon ’11, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering | Photo by Adam Atkinson

The Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program, from the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, supports the research and teaching careers of talented early-career faculty in the chemical sciences who have demonstrated leadership in original scholarly research of outstanding quality, substantially carried out with undergraduates, as well as innovation in and dedication to undergraduate education. Each eligible institution can nominate one faculty member annually.

Recommendations for awards are based upon evidence of outstanding educational efforts and the nominee’s scholarly research achievements with undergraduates, as assessed by a review panel of distinguished faculty in the chemical sciences. Factors considered are: outside letters of support, awards and honors, publication of research achievements in leading journals, success in attracting research funding, and service to the larger community in chemical education.

“I am overjoyed to have been selected,” Gordon says. “Selection was based on my achievements in teaching and research to date, as well as my proposed plans forward, so receiving this award is very motivating to me. Since joining Lafayette, I have continually built upon and strengthened the integration of my teaching and research efforts, making this distinction a meaningful recognition of that work.”

The prestigious award provides an unrestricted research grant of $75,000, which will support Gordon’s research proposal, “Design for Degradation: Developing Polymers for Environmental Responsiveness and Breakdown.”

“The research plans build on my prior experience and expertise in polymer design, synthesis, and advanced characterization techniques to probe and understand the structure-property relationships in stimuli-responsive and biobased polymers,” says Gordon, who in 2022 received a five-year National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award for her polymer research, the agency’s most prestigious recognition of early-career faculty.

“Broadly, the proposed research addresses ongoing challenges in material durability, safety, and sustainability,” she says. “The Dreyfus award will support these research projects and educational initiatives, including mentored student research opportunities.”

Gordon has long been a proponent of involving students in her research, helping them prepare for successful careers by inviting them into her lab.

Finlay (Finn) Smith ’25 (right), who worked with Gordon for three years and did an honors thesis, is just one of many students she has mentored over the years. He earned third prize in the undergraduate student research poster competition at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers National Meeting in a materials science and engineering subdivision. He is currently an associate scientist at Merck. | Photo by Adam Atkinson

“Research is my most effective teaching tool as it cultivates and integrates not only technical knowledge, but also problem-solving, communication, and teamwork,” she observes. “Long-term, hands-on projects foster transformative student growth unlike any other method I have seen.”

Through these opportunities, students have earned national recognition through research competitions and scholarships, which have opened doors for them into graduate programs of their choice and competitive industry positions.

“This award acknowledges the profound impact that mentored research opportunities have on an undergraduate’s education and professional growth, and supports my efforts to deliver these types of experiences as well as to integrate these outcomes and contemporary topics into my classroom teaching,” Gordon says.

“I aim to positively shape students’ education by helping them build essential skills and gain meaningful hands-on experiences that create opportunities for them and set them up for success beyond Lafayette,” she adds. “I am grateful for the foundation’s generous support.”