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About Taylor
Tayler Hebner is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University’s Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, joining the faculty in August 2024. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota Duluth (2019), a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder (2022) under advisors Professors Timothy White and Christopher Bowman, and was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Oregon’s Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact (2023) with Professor Danielle Benoit. Her research interests encompass designing multifunctional responsive polymers to bridge synthetic materials and autonomous biologically-inspired functions. Employing an interdisciplinary approach that integrates synthetic chemistry, polymer mechanics, material design, and cell biology, the Hebner lab develops materials for tissue engineering, medical devices, soft robotics, and regenerative tendon healing using functional hydrogels and stimuli-responsive liquid crystal elastomers.
Hebner has earned prestigious awards for her innovative work in polymer science, notably the 2024 International Liquid Crystal Society Glenn H. Brown Prize recognizing her Ph.D. thesis on liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs)—materials that merge liquid crystalline properties with elastomeric behavior to enable stimuli-responsive shape changes for applications including artificial muscles, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and medical devices. Further accolades include the 2023 Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact Training and Teaching Award, 2023 University of Oregon Clarks Honors College Scholar – Knight Campus Undergraduate Scholarship and Mentorship Program, 2022 CU Boulder ChBE American Institute of Chemists Graduate Student Award, 2022 American Chemical Society Eastman Chemical Award Finalist, and 2022 American Physical Society Padden Award Finalist. Her selected publications, often as lead author, include “Radical-Mediated Degradation of Thiol-Maleimide Hydrogels” (*Advanced Science*, 2024), “Leaping Liquid Crystal Elastomers” (*Science Advances*, 2022), “Shape Permanence in Diarylethene-Functionalized Liquid-Crystal Elastomers Facilitated by Thiol-Anhydride Dynamic Chemistry” (*Angewandte Chemie International Edition*, 2022), “Polymer network structure, properties, and formation in liquid crystalline elastomers prepared via thiol-acrylate chain transfer reactions” (*Macromolecules*, 2021), and “Influence of Orientational Genesis on the Actuation of Monodomain Liquid Crystalline Elastomers” (*Macromolecules*, 2021). In recognition of the Glenn H. Brown Prize, Hebner will present her research at a Special Awards Session of the International Liquid Crystal Conference, contributing to the broader impact in the field of advanced materials.
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