Frontiers of Functional Polymer Materials: In Honor of Prof. Nishide's 77th Birthday

Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics Special Issue for Prof. Nishide's 77th Birthday We are delighted to release this Special Issue of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics dedicated to Professor Hiroyuki Nishide, honoring his 77th birthday. In Japan, the Age of 77 is called “Kiju,” which is considered auspicious and is a celebration because the cursive font of the Chinese character “Ki (喜 meaning joy)” looks like “seven” overlapped. Prof. Nishide is currently a research professor at Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering and served as a Full Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry (1987–2018) at Waseda University, Japan. He served as a Dean of the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering at Waseda University. He contributed to establishing international partnerships (faculty and student exchange) and graduate education program as a leader through the Leading Graduate Program “Energy-Next” in Science and Engineering and the Unit for Energy and Nanomaterials as part of the Top Global University Project (TGU) funded by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). He received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at Waseda University in 1975. Following his time as a Research Fellow with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and as a Humboldt Foundation Fellow (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany), he joined Waseda University as an assistant professor at the Department of Applied Chemistry in 1978. Later, he advanced to associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 1987. Professor Nishide has devoted over 40 years to education and research with enthusiasm and an open-minded approach. He has mentored hundreds of graduate students, including 70 Ph.D. students, more than 30 of whom are active as leading researchers and faculty members in academic institutions. His remarkable research accomplishments span the synthesis and applications of functional polymers, mainly focusing on fields involving stable radical molecules. As described in the review in the special issue, his pioneering work on transporting, storing, and releasing electric charge through unpaired electron exchange reactions has led to advances in organic-based rechargeable batteries and photoelectric conversion systems. Additionally, he has made significant contributions to the design and creation of functional polymers, including magnetically active polymers and oxygen enrichment membranes. He has published over 700 original papers and has been regarded as a leading global figure in the polymer community for decades. Prof. Nishide has demonstrated his leadership as a director of numerous academic societies, serving as the President of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, and of the Japan Union of Chemical Science and Technology. Internationally, he held roles such as the President of the Federation of Asian Polymer Societies and Chairman of the Executive Committee for the International Year of Chemistry, in addition to organizing numerous international conferences as a conference chair and co-chairman such as IUPAC MacroMolecular Complexes (MMC) series, East Asian Symposium on Polymers for Advanced Technology (EASPAT) series, International Symposium on Polymer Chemistry (PC) and Polymer Ecomaterials (PEM, with Prof. Xuesi Chen) series, US-Japan Polymat Symposium (co-organized with Prof. R. Advincula). He has contributed to strengthening international partnerships with overseas researchers. In recognition of his achievements, Prof. Nishide has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan (1990), the Award for Distinguished Achievement in Polymer Science (2011), the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Science and Technology Award, 2013), and the Chemical Society of Japan Award (2014). Beyond scientific research, Professor Nishide has also served as an Editorial Advisory Board Member of several high-impact international journals, and Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics is one of them. During his long-term editorial period, Prof. Nishide greatly supported the development of this journal. On the occasion of Prof. Nishide's 77th birthday, it is our great honor, together with Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Mara Staffilani, and editor, Dr. Joseph Krumpfer, to organize a special issue for the celebration. In this special issue, there are 21 exciting papers, including a Perspective by Prof. Nishide (macp.202400387) challenges and opportunities in the field of redox polymers. This is joined by 20 research articles from leading scientists, past and present members of the polymer group Waseda University and collaborative partners. The topics of these excellent papers cover electronic materials by Profs. Miyatake (macp.202400226), Kawakami and Tanaka (macp.202400196), Saito (macp.202400215), Kaneko (macp.202400195), Li (macp.202400260) and Costa (macp.202400429); research on photonic materials by Profs. Kobayashi (macp.202400208), Suzuki (macp.202400254), Liang (macp.202400406) and Moreno-Villoslada (macp.202400381); hybrid materials by Profs. Yamamoto (macp.202400334), Maximov (macp.202400194), and Takahashi (macp.202400273); bio- and biomedical materials by Profs. Komatsu (macp.202400183), Chen (macp.202400163), Takeoka (macp.202400318), Fujie (macp.202400220), and Kudaibergenov (macp.202400128); and sustainable materials by Profs. Long (macp.202400327) and Akiyama (macp.202400217). All of which demonstrate the broadness of polymer science. Through the contributions of Prof. Nishide's friends and colleagues, we aim to highlight the remarkable impact he has had in the field of functional polymers. We hope this special issue will celebrate incredible achievements and his contribution to the field and encourage new generations. To close, we greatly appreciate the kind support from the editorial team of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, particularly Dr. Joseph Krumpfer. We also would like to thank all the distinguished authors who contributed to this special issue to celebrate Prof. Nishide's 77th birthday. Finally, let us say “Happy Birthday” to Professor Nishide (Figure 1).