He joined Northwestern in 1990, with B.S. and M.S. degrees from Illinois and a Ph.D. from Stanford. Burghardt studies the dynamics of complex polymeric fluids, using in situ techniques to monitor flow-induced structural changes. His group has developed several novel applications of flow birefringence to study both isotropic and liquid crystalline polymers. More recently his focus has shifted to x-ray scattering methods, performing experiments within the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team at the Advanced Photon Source.