[5] In the latter role he oversaw interactions with Brookhaven National Laboratory, which Stony Brook University and others co-manage with Battelle Memorial Institute.

[9] In his second academic year, Kaler and the university, in partnership with the Minnesota Legislature, froze tuition for Minnesota-resident students.

[11] That request was expected to be heard by the DFL Party controlled Minnesota Legislature and Governor Mark Dayton during its 2013 session.

[12] Kaler's outreach to the Minnesota business community has earned him and the university recognition by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the White House.

[14] During his first year in office the state legislature reduced appropriations to higher education down to a level that were equivalent to the funding amounts from 1998.

[17] The University of Minnesota was profiled by The Wall Street Journal in an analysis of higher education spending and mismanagement.

[19] In the wake of The Wall Street Journal story and a commentary in The Washington Post (that was reprinted in the Minneapolis Star Tribune), Kaler wrote a response, detailing many of the accomplishments of the university in reducing administrative spending and holding down tuition.

In it, Kaler wrote: "The articles did not report that, despite stunning state disinvestment, the university is more productive than at any time in recent history.

His work has focused on complex fluids, which are characterized by changes of composition or density over length scales comparable to molecular dimensions.

[23] He has served in a variety of positions in several professional societies, including the leadership ladder in the ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, of which he was chair in 2006.

Kaler was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2010 for the elucidation of structure-function relationships in surfactant systems that has led to novel formulations of complex, self-assembled media.