Sparks–Thomas Award

The purpose of the Sparks–Thomas Award, given by the ACS Rubber Division, is to recognize and encourage outstanding contributions and innovations in the field of elastomers by younger scientists, technologists, and engineers. The award is named for Exxon scientists William J. Sparks and Robert M. Thomas, co-inventors of Butyl rubber.

Recipients
The following persons have received the award: • 1987 – Gary R. Hamed

• 1990 – Robert P. Lattimer

• 1991 – C. Michael Roland

• 1993 – Walter H. Waddell

• 1997 – Maria D. Ellul

• 1998 – Anthony J. Dias

• 2004 – Andy H. Tsou

• 2005 – Mark D. Foster

• 2006 – Vassilios Galiatsatos

• 2007 – William V. Mars

• 2008 – Christopher G. Robertson

• 2009 – John M. Baldwin

• 2010 – James Busfield

• 2011 – Alfred J. Crosby

• 2012 – Liqun Zhang

• 2013 – Wilma Dierkes

• 2014 – Seiichi Kawahara

• 2015 – Julie Diani

• 2016 – Amit Das

• 2017 – Juan L. Valentin

• 2018 – Megan Robertson

• 2019 – Pamela Martin

• 2020 – David S. Simmons

• 2021 – Kevin A. Cavicchi

• 2022 – Baochun Guo

• 2023 - Lewis Tunnicliffe

• 2024 - Radek Stocek