John Crocker (physicist)

John C. Crocker (born 1968 in Stoughton, Massachusetts) is an American physicist and chemical engineer.

He is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Crocker's research is focused in soft matter physics, nanotechnology and cell mechanics.

Crocker studied Physics at the University of Chicago, graduating with an AB in Physics in 1990.

He continued his graduate studies at the University of Chicago and completed this program in 1996, receiving AM and PhD degrees in Physics, under the supervision of David G. Grier.

This was followed by postdoctoral study with Arjun G. Yodh and David A. Weitz at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2000, following his postdoctoral work, Crocker was appointed as Assistant Professor in Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology.

In 2001, he moved to become Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation in Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Crocker was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007, and full Professor in 2014.

Crocker is known for his early work on particle tracking in two- and three-dimensions, and the measurement of small forces between colloidal micro particles using optical tweezers.

His other significant work includes the development of two-point microrheology and its application to cell mechanics and force spectrum microscopy measurements, as well as the use of DNA hybridization to direct the formation of novel colloidal crystals.

His later work involves the use of energy landscape methods to understanding soft glassy materials, such as foams and the actomyosin cytoskeleton.