WALDORF, Md.—C. Michael Roland, a 40-year veteran of the rubber industry and 2012 Charles Goodyear Medalist, died Oct. 2 at the age of 69.
Born in Trenton, N.J., he graduated from Grove City College in 1974 and received his doctorate in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1980.
He started his career at Firestone, spending six years there before joining the Chemistry Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in 1986. Roland served as head of the Polymer Physics Section there from 1989 to 2015, and then worked as a senior scientist in soft matter physics until his retirement in 2020.
Roland said in a 2012 interview that he took the job with Firestone Central Research after earning his doctorate because he would be working mostly on long-term projects. While there, he became immersed in rubber and polymers, about which he said "I never knew anything."
So he read and learned everything he could, joking that he had to pass on lunchtime bridge games—a passion he shared with many at the research center—because he needed to spend his time studying literature.
When Firestone had troubles and was making cutbacks because of the Firestone 500 tire recall and a downturn in the auto industry, he took the job at the Naval Research Laboratory, largely because he was offered a researcher's dream, the freedom to find and work on his own projects.
"The downside is you have to find someone to support it," Roland said. "That can be stressful, but a little pressure is probably healthy."
The Naval Research Laboratory, Roland said, was the brainchild of Thomas Edison, who wanted to see a place created where basic research could be done, attracting good people to work on military as well as other projects.
During his career, Roland's work included research on the dynamics of condensed matter, including polymers and liquid crystals, with applications in military armor and infrastructure protection. He authored more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 12 book chapters and a book, "Viscoelastic Behavior of Rubber Materials."
Roland received 22 patents for his inventions; was named a fellow of the American Physical Society and also a fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining; chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Elastomers, Networks and Gels in 1996; and received numerous industry awards, including the Charles Goodyear Medal, the highest honor given by the ACS Rubber Division.