Theresa Reineke

Theresa M. Reineke is the Prager Chair in Macromolecular Science and a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She holds graduate faculty appointments in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Pharmaceutics. Reineke earned a B.S. in Chemistry and Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1995, an M.S. in Chemistry from Arizona State University in 1998, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan in 2000, followed by an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology from 2000 to 2002. Before joining the University of Minnesota in 2011 as the Lloyd H. Reyerson Professor, she was faculty at the University of Cincinnati and Virginia Tech. In 2017, she was appointed Distinguished McKnight University Professor, and in 2022, named to the Prager Chair.

Reineke's research centers on polymer chemistry for biomedical and sustainable applications, including polymer-based delivery systems for DNA and RNA to treat genetic diseases, enhanced oral delivery of peptides and drugs, and sustainable polymers from plant-derived chemicals. Her interdisciplinary work involves novel polymer synthesis, mechanistic studies of polymer function, and applications in advanced biomaterials, collaborating across chemistry, engineering, and medicine. She has authored more than 200 publications and holds numerous patents, has trained over 130 scientists, and co-founded Techulon, Inc. to commercialize her technologies. Notable awards include the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2022), Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award (2017), DuPont Nutrition & Health Science Excellence Medal (2018), American Chemical Society POLY Fellow (2018), NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2009), NSF CAREER Award (2005), and Beckman Young Investigator Award (2005). She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Bioconjugate Chemistry since 2023, founding Associate Editor of ACS Macro Letters, and on editorial boards for Biomacromolecules and others. Reineke directs a Minnesota Innovation Partnership with Dow Chemical Company, leads the Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Group in the UMN Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and holds leadership roles in the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division.

Professional Email: treineke@umn.edu