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Recently (July 3), our dear colleague Ferenc Horkay, former Chairman and present Secretary of the Scientific Committee of the Polymer Networks Group (PNG), passed away suddenly after a short illness.
Ferenc had a stellar academic career in Hungary before coming to the United States to take a position as a guest researcher with Greg McKenna at NIST’s Polymer Division in Gaithersburg to work on an Army/Navy/Air Force project on flammable materials used for aircraft that greatly attracted his interest. While at NIST, he also became involved in studies aimed at improving the fundamental characterization of rubbery polymer materials, a research topic for which he was well-known from the time of his research in Hungary and Europe. In particular, his earlier collaborations with Erik Geisler on the swelling, elastic and osmotic properties of polymer networks, and complementary neutron scattering studies aimed at understanding these materials better from a molecular perspective, set the stage for his future work in the US. After his position at NIST, he was able to pursue his deep scientific interest in polymer networks, and many other interests deriving from his colloidal science expertise, at the GE Corporate R&D Center where he also excelled in the corporate scientific culture of GE. Following his distinguished work at GE, he returned to fundamental research at NIH where his work then focused on the scientifically and socially important problem of physical aspects of arthritis and cartilage-related medical conditions in a distinguished research group run led by Peter Basser at the National Institutes of Health. It is in this final period that his research expertise in neutron and light scattering, deep knowledge of polymer networks, practical appreciation and knowledge of practical applications of polymer networks and hydrogels, and renowned skill at making osmotic pressure measurements came together synergistically in his many fundamental contributions elucidating the properties of many biological polyelectrolytes and hydrogel materials, for which he is internationally recognized. He also is renowned for his inherent kindness, patience and generous sharing of this knowledge and experience, along with his unsung tireless work organizing scientific meetings and publications in the field of hydrogels and biopolymers, so that his recent passing is a great loss to the whole polymer science community. We will all miss him.
There will be a service for Ferenc on Saturday Aug 2, 2025 at 11 am, in the Pumphrey Funeral Home,7557 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814 (301-652-2200). Visitors will all be arriving there between 10-11 am.
The service will be live-streamed to the link below for those who cannot make it to the funeral home:
Dr Ferenc Horkay - Funeral Service Streaming
Jack Douglas and Costas Patrickios
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