Letter from the President
Dear Society of Rheology Members:
The past year has been eventful and exciting for your Society, and I am pleased to say that it has been very successful. Before looking back on the year’s accomplishments and calling attention to a number of upcoming activities, I first give a heartfelt thanks to you as members of the Society. It is an honor and a privilege to serve you as President of SOR. I am deeply proud to do my part for this Society; my pride stems not only from SOR’s unyielding commitment to its technical mission but equally from the warm, welcoming, and supportive nature of its members. I am especially grateful for the continuous flow of generosity from Society members as you volunteer time and bring ideas and energy to initiatives that advance rheological science.
Speaking of rheological science, I want to point out that a significant portion of this is archived in the Journal of Rheology , with leadership from Editor-in-Chief Dimitris Vlassopoulos and Associate Editor Emanuela Del Gado. For JOR and the Rheology Bulletin you are now reading, edited by Carlos López-Barrón, the SOR partners with American Institute of Physics Publishing (AIPP). This is a very valuable relationship to our all-volunteer Society. Such partnerships are crucial to extend our reach and increase our effectiveness, and I highlight some other partnerships and related interactions below.
In taking the helm at SOR, I have had occasion to reflect on where we came from and consider where the Society can go. Recall that the Society began in 1929 , as a group of American and European scientists who saw the need for a branch of mechanics focused on the flow, i.e. on the dynamics, of materials. From this beginning, a global reach developed. Cooperation between rheologists around the world is a hallmark of the Society and the scientific culture of rheology. The Society works closely with and promotes the efforts of affiliated societies in many countries around the globe, including two large consortia of national societies – the European Society of Rheology (ESR) and the Asia-Pacific Society of Rheology (APSR). SOR members gain from these interactions through the expanded reach of our work in promoting human welfare in the various applications of our field of study – in engineering, geophysical, materials and medical sciences to name a few. This spirit of global cooperation gives me great confidence in the future of rheological sciences.
Looking back just on the past year, I can say it has been a very productive one for SOR. Through the efforts of many, led by then-President Jonathan Rothstein, two accomplishments are especially noteworthy. First, SOR messaging to the world has been modernized, with a new logo and branding program guided by Past President Anne Grillet. Second, our webmaster Rae Robertson-Anderson unveiled the new SOR website at the 96th Annual Meeting in Santa Fe . The website construction was led by Rae and our past webmaster extraordinaire Albert Co, in partnership with AIP, of which SOR is a member society. I am personally incredibly impressed by www.societyofrheology.org . While it is still a work in progress, Rae has created a dynamic website that has proven very effective in spreading the Society message, providing access to rheology for nonmembers as well as ways for members to engage with SOR.
Looking ahead, the 97th Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology will be held this Fall at the Boston Park Plaza, October 25-29, 2026. The meeting is coordinated by the local chairs Safa Jamali and Gareth McKinley with help from a new partnership SOR established with the American Physical Society’s meeting planning service. The scientific content of the meeting has been developed by technical program chairs Arezoo Ardekani and Travis Walker, who have assembled a fantastic slate of invited talks and contributed sessions led by an outstanding group of symposia chairs. In Boston, we will welcome the 2026 class of SOR Fellows , and have the chance to honor Bingham Medalist Roger Bonnecaze and Metzner Award winner Jeffrey Richards with plenary lectures. New this year will be a special session, coupled to a short course and supported by a Rheology Venture Fund award. The session will focus on the interplay of tribology with rheology (tribo-rheo for short), and is chaired by Lilian Hsiao and Antonio Perrazzo. This session will feature an international group of speakers from universities as well as industrial and national laboratories. For students and post-docs, awards for posters sharing work on the tribo-rheo theme are planned. The special session is entitled “Tribo-rheology: Flow and friction in predicting texture and performance” and complements the fundamental and hands-on SOR short course of the same title offered October 24-25. The course is instructed by Lilian with support from co-instructors James Eickoff of Anton Paar and Keith Coasey of TA Instruments.
Looking a bit farther ahead, the 20th International Congress of Rheology will be hosted by the Chinese Society of Rheology (CSR) in Guangzhou, China, June 20-25, 2027. CSR President Xue-Feng Yuan has brought together a strong international team and the program is an exciting one, with special sessions honoring 50 years of study for each of the Doi-Edwards theory and the Boger fluid, two touchstones for rheologists. SOR, ESR, and APSR awardees will be honored by plenary session lectures.
As I noted, the Society began in 1929, so we are getting close to a very big SOR birthday. A range of technical retrospectives and fun events are planned for the SOR Centennial Year of 2029. The biggest event will be the Society’s Centennial meeting, to be held at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, September 20–27, 2029. Get that in your calendars – you don’t want to miss it!
There’s clearly not space to point to all the wonderful things, big and small, that the Society has achieved over the past year. In hitting some of the highlights, I want to emphasize that we can do none of it without the volunteer efforts of you as SOR members, and I am working hard to make sure that your efforts are amplified and multiplied for the greater good through our partnership with AIP and its member societies such as APS, as well as with the global network of rheologists.
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As we approach its Centennial, we have a great deal to look back on with pride as we celebrate the legacy of the Society. And I can’t stress enough that with a wonderfully supportive and vibrant membership, the future is bright for SOR.
With warm wishes,
—Jeff—