News Release

Local angles: Lumberton

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Dr. Michael Rubinstein named
to new distinguished professorship

CHAPEL HILL - Chemist Dr. Michael Rubinstein, an expert on polymer theory, has been named the John P. Barker Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Barker established the new professorship at his alma mater to provide support for an outstanding teacher and scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"Professor Rubinstein, an excellent teacher and a recognized leader in his field, is eminently deserving of this honor," said Dr. Madeline G. Levine, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "Distinguished professorships help Carolina in the competition to attract and retain exceptional faculty. We are grateful to John Barker for a generous gift that will make a difference in the lives of our students for years to come."

The gift from Barker, a 1967 political science graduate who lives in Lumberton, qualifies for a matching grant from the North Carolina Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund to endow the professorship.

Barker is the former president and chief executive officer of Triangle Ice Inc. He pursued retail banking upon graduation from Carolina, then purchased Triangle Ice, a producer and distributor of bagged ice, in 1976. Barker sold his business in 2003 to Reddy Ice of Dallas, Texas, the largest U.S. maker of packaged ice.

Barker grew up on a tobacco farm in Robeson County. He said the university gave so much to him that he wanted to find an appropriate way to give back.

"There were a lot of great professors over the course of my four years," he said. "A huge part of what we are as alumni of UNC can be directly attributed to the years we spent at the university and the knowledge we attained there. There are numerous ways that we can give back as graduates of the university."

Barker previously was involved in public school education in Robeson County. He has held various school board posts, including chairman of the Lumberton City School System and interim chairman of the consolidated Public Schools of Robeson County. He is the former chairman and current member of the board of trustees of Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton.

Rubinstein, whose research interests are in polymer theory and computer simulations, has been on the UNC chemistry faculty since 1995. He is also on the faculty of the curriculum in applied and materials sciences. Rubinstein is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a prestigious honor given by one of the nation's oldest and most distinguished scientific societies. The society recognizes fellows for their significant contributions in the application of physics to science and technology.

At UNC, Rubinstein has taught courses on thermodynamics, kinetics and diffusion; introduction to statistical thermodynamics; physical chemistry of polymers; intermediate polymer chemistry and statistical mechanics.

Rubinstein is the former associate editor of Macromolecules, a publication of the American Chemical Society. In 1987, Eastman Kodak Co. presented him with the C.E.K. Mees Award in recognition of excellence in scientific research and reporting. Rubinstein is co-author of the textbook
"Polymer Physics" (2003). He is a member of the steering committee for UNC's Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology and is on the scientific advisory board of Cabot Corp. of Boston, which makes and handles fine particles including carbons, mixed oxides, refractory metals and aerosols.

Rubinstein received his bachelor's degree with honors in physics from the California Institute of Technology and his master's and doctoral degrees in theoretical physics from Harvard University.

The gift to establish the Barker professorship counts toward the Carolina First Campaign, a comprehensive, multi-year private fund-raising campaign with a goal of $2 billion to support Carolina's vision of becoming the nation's leading public university.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/rubinstein_michael_7_06.jpg

College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Weaver Spurr, (919) 962-4093, spurrk@email.unc.edu