Brian Edwards
Edwards earned his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1986, and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 1991. His dissertation research initially focused on the physical behavior of liquid crystalline materials under flow, but quickly branched out to include the mathematical structure of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. This dissertation work culminated in the publication (with A.N. Beris) of the textbook "Thermodynamics of Flowing Systems" by Oxford University Press in 1994.
After working in Europe (ETH-Zurich) as an oberassistant, he joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee as an associate professor in 2001. He was promoted to full professor in 2008. Over the course of his career, he has authored over 125 articles in engineering and scientific journals and written several book chapters. His current research continues to press the boundaries of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, particularly in the areas of polymeric liquid dynamics, molecular simulation, statistical mechanics, and flow-induced changes in physical properties.