Dr. Bobby G. Sumpter earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, with minors in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, and Geology. He later completed his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Oklahoma State University. His postdoctoral studies included work in Chemical Physics at Cornell University and Polymer Chemistry at the University of Tennessee.

In 1992, he joined the Chemistry Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Polymer Science group. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to the scientific community through research, editorial service, and conference leadership. He has served on advisory and editorial boards for scientific journals and helped organize major meetings and workshops in neural networks, materials science, modeling, and simulation.

His publication record includes more than 300 refereed journal articles. Professional affiliations include the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Chemists, Sigma Xi, the International Neural Network Society, and the Materials Research Society. His work has also been recognized with honors such as the ORNL-CASD Technical Achievement Award and the Lockheed Martin Energy Research Significant Advent Award.

Research interests center on the chemistry and physics of molecular systems, especially at the nanoscale. Areas of expertise include chemistry in nanoconfined environments, self-assembly and self-organization, molecular-based materials, nanocomposites, quantum chemistry, and biotechnology.