Letter from the President - 2025
Dear Society of Rheology Members,
I am happy to report that this has been an exciting and extremely productive year for the Society.As we quickly approach our centennial anniversary in 2029, we have begun a number of important projects designed to modernize our society, to increase and improve our visibility, and to provide new valuable resources to our members.These projects include: teaming up with APS to help plan our annual meetings starting with Boston in 2026; the introduction of a redesigned logo; the creation of an online education platform called the Rheology Academy; and the development of a new website with the help of AIP.The website will be hosted on AIP’s new digital experience platform.The process has been spearheaded by our new webmaster, Rae Robertson-Anderson, in collaboration with Albert Co.I would like to express my deep appreciation to Rae for stepping into this role and thank them for all their hard work.We are really excited for the launch of the new website which is set to go live in October after the Santa Fe meeting.With these new initiatives, the Society of Rheology is positioning itself for another 100 years as the nexus of rheological research and practice.
Over the course of the last year, we have continued to execute on our mission to expand the knowledge and practice of rheology through hosting of our annual meetings, the publication of the Journal of Rheology, our education, outreach and mentoring activities, and through the fresh ideas that you submit to the Rheology Venture Fund.In addition to several ongoing projects, this year’s RVF winners include: a project by Ben Yavitt and Aashish Priye entitled “A platform for community-driven DIY rheology projects” designed to develop plans for 3D printed DIY rheometer tools; a project by Monica Naccache and Priscilla Vargas entitled “Rheo4Kids: Outreach to bring the science of rheology to children and teenagers in Brazil” designed to develop a new outreach activities around materials used in our daily lives; and a mini symposium at the2025 Santa Fe meeting dedicated to “Geology-Rheology” organized by Christine Roberts and Sujit Datta.
Last year’s Society of Rheology Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas was a great success.With over 500 oral presentations and posters, it was one of the biggest SoR meetings we have every held.It is clear that the science of rheology remains vibrant and strong.Special thanks Kendra Erk and Safa Jamali for organizing the technical program and to local organizer Roger Bonnecaze and his great staff at UT Austin for putting together an amazing meeting.
This year’s meeting will be in Santa Fe.Christine Roberts has done an amazing job as the local organizer of the meeting with the help of Lilian Hsiao and Reza Foudazi who have developed a great technical program for us.I hope to you will join me there to celebrate our 2025 Bingham Medalist, Antony Beris, Metzner Awardee, Safa Jamali, and our new class of Fellows. With a robust abstract submission, the technical program promises to be exciting, capturing both the depth and breadth of our Society. There will be two short courses, “Fundamentals of powder/granular rheology and flow” on Saturday and “Applied Powder Rheology” on Sunday. We also look forward to active member and community engagement with an outreach event at a local children’s museum, the student-industry forum, the Rheology Research Symposium (RRS) and the student trivia night.
Over the last year, we have been planning our centennial celebration to be held in the Washington D.C. area in 2029. Mike Graham is heading up a centennial committee to make the celebration special.We have lots of great ideas and projects moving forward focusing both on our society’s storied history and the future of rheology.
With all that is happening in the country and in the world, I am acutely aware of how difficult these last few months have been for some of our members.Know that the Society of Rheology stands with you.As a society, we will continue to hold fast to our vision, values and mission.We will continue to support and promote the science and practice of rheology and science in general. Together we can make a difference.
Regards,
Jonathan P. Rothstein,
President of The Society of Rheology