Zhibing Hu, Regents Professor of physics who had worked at UNT since 1990, died July 16 in Houston. Hu was an expert on hydrogels, water-based polymers with applications in medicine and other areas, and he had numerous patents. Research he conducted with a team from Harvard and Columbia universities was published in the journal Nature and could lead to better design and manufacturing of glass. His papers also were published in Science, Physical Review Letters and the Journal of Chemical Physics, among many other publications.Hu mentored students in UNT’s Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science who earned Goldwater Scholarships and recognition in the Intel and Siemens science competitions based on their research in his lab. His son, Peter, also attended TAMS and placed sixth in the national Siemens competition.Hu's work was funded by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, the Army Research Office, Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Alcon Laboratories. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing and a master’s degree and doctorate in physics from McMaster University in Ontario. He completed postdoctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a member of the American Physical Society and Sigma Xi.