Geoff Coates is one of the world’s leading polymer chemists, known for finding purpose in the smallest bonds. On a rainy afternoon in Olin Hall at Cornell, we talked about chemistry, entrepreneurship, and the early inspiration he drew from his father, who was also a chemist. In the lab, he still keeps and sometimes wears his father’s old lab coat, a small gesture that ties his work to its beginnings.

His research centers on designing catalysts that guide molecules into forming useful and sustainable materials. Coates and his team have developed new ways to turn carbon dioxide and other renewable feedstocks into biodegradable plastics and essential industrial chemicals. Their discoveries show how chemistry can support both innovation and environmental balance.

That same idea carries into his entrepreneurial work. He co-founded Novomer, which converts captured carbon into valuable materials, and Ecolectro, which creates advanced membranes for fuel cells and hydrogen production. Both companies translate the science of his Cornell lab into technologies that reduce dependence on fossil resources.

In conversation, Coates moves easily between the molecular and the human. He speaks with precision and warmth, describing catalysts as if they were colleagues with their own habits and personalities. His enthusiasm fills the room, matched only by his clarity of thought.

The photograph from that day shows him standing before a blackboard covered in the shapes of molecules, chalk still in hand. The light catches his face in a moment of reflection. His work, at its heart, is about connection…between atoms, between generations, and between discovery and the world it serves.