Jimmy W. Mays

Professor Emeritus

Research

Research Expertise

Polymeric biomaterials (pelvic mesh, hernia mesh, bone cement); polymer synthesis; anionic polymerization; synthesis and characterization of branched polymers; polymer characterization and solution properties (GPC, light scattering, thermal properties); charged polymers; block copolymer synthesis, morphology, and properties; elastomers and thermoplastic elastomers.

 

Education

1984                                    Ph.D., Polymer Science, University of Akron (with L. J. Fetters)

1979                                    B.S., Polymer Science, University of Southern Mississippi

 

Professional Experience

1988 – present                  Consultant to the Chemistry and Biomaterials Community

2018 - present                   Professor Emeritus, University of Tennessee (UT)

2002 - 2017                       Professor of Chemistry, UT

2002 - 2017                       Distinguished Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2013 - 2017                       Professor, UT Institute of Biomedical Engineering

2010 - 2015                       President, BBB Elastomers, LLC

2005 - 2008                       Principal Technical Advisor, FUJIFILM Hunt Smart Surfaces, LLC

2000 – 2017                      Partner and Co-Founder, Smart Surfaces, LLC

1995 - 2001                       Professor of Chemistry, UAB, Birmingham, AL

1992 - 1995                       Associate Professor of Chemistry, UAB, Birmingham, AL

1988 ‑ 1992                       Assistant Professor of Chemistry, UAB, Birmingham, AL

1983 ‑ 1987                       Research Chemist, Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, DE

 

Consulting Experience

I have worked continuously as a consultant since 1988. My experience has spanned patent litigations, product liability, and trade secret disputes. I have worked for some of the top companies in the chemistry and biomaterials fields including Dow Chemical, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Integra Life Sciences, Exxon, 3M, Heraeus Medical, Chevron-Phillips, CIBA Vision, Flex-Seal, and Halliburton. I have testified in deposition over 30 times, and I have testified in trials more than a dozen times in the U.S. and abroad.

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Awards and Recognitions

Fellow of American Chemical Society

Founding Fellow, ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry

ACS Southern Chemist Award

ACS Herman Mark Senior Scholar Award

Distinguished Service Award, ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry

Fellow of ACS Polymeric Materials Science & Engineering Division

Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry

ACS Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award

Tosoh Bioscience Lifetime Achievement Award (in recognition of lifetime dedication to the field of polymer science)

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Publications

“Recent Advances in Thermoplastic Elastomers from Living Polymerizations: Macromolecular Architectures and Supramolecular Chemistry”, Weiyu Wang, Wei Lu, Andrew Goodwin, Huiqun Wang, Panchao Yin, Nam-Goo Kang, Kunlun Hong, and Jimmy W. Mays, Progress in Polymer Science, 95, 1 - 31 (2019).

“Determining the Dilution Exponent for 1,4-Polybutadienes using Blends of Entangled Monodispersed Star with Unentangled, Low Molecular Weight Linear Polymers”, Ryan Hall, Beom-Goo Kang, Sanghoon Lee, Taihyun Chang, David C. Venerus, Nikolaos Hadjichristidis, Jimmy Mays, and Ronald G. Larson, Macromolecules, 52, 1757 – 1771 (2019).

“Super-Stretchable Polymeric Elastomers with Healable Property and Functionality”, Peng-Fei Cao, Bingrui Li, Tao Hong, Jacob Townsend, Zhe Qiang, Kunyue Xing, Konstantinos D. Vogiatzis, Yangyang Wang, Jimmy W. Mays, Alexei P. Sokolov, and Tomonori Saito, Adv. Functional Mater., 28, 1800741 (2018).

“Block Copolymers: Synthesis, Self-Assembly, and Applications”, H. Feng, X. Lu, W. Wang, N.-G. Kang, and J. W. Mays, Polymers, 9, 494 - 524 (2017).

“All Acrylic-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers with High Upper Service Temperature and Superior Mechanical Properties”, Wei Lu, Yangyang Wang, Weiyu Wang, Shiwang Cheng, Jiahua Zhu, Yuewen Xu, Kunlun Hong, Nam-Goo Kang, and Jimmy Mays, Polymer Chemistry, journal front cover, 8, 5741 – 5748 (2017).

“Design and Synthesis of Multigraft Copolymer Thermoplastic Elastomers: Superelastomers”, Huiqun Wang, Wei Lu, Weiyu Wang, Priyank Narayandas Shah, Kostas Misichronis, Nam-Goo Kang, and Jimmy W. Mays, Macromol. Chem. Phys., 219, 1700254 (2018).

“All-Acrylic Multigraft Copolymer Superelastomers: Facile Synthesis and Exceptional Mechanical Behavior”, Wei Lu, Andrew Goodwin, Yangyang Wang, Panchao Yin, Weiyu Wang, Jiahua Zhu, Ting Wu, Xinyi Lu, Bin Hu, Kunlun Hong, Nam-Goo Kang, and Jimmy Mays, Polymer Chemistry, 9, 160 - 168 (2018).

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Additional Information

CV