2019 Election

Deborah L. Grubbe

Now self-employed, Deborah Grubbe worked in executive, operations, engineering and safety roles with DuPont and BP. She was a member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, and consulted in safety culture with the Columbia Shuttle Accident Investigation Board. Deb currently serves on the Engineering Advisory Council at Rowan Univ., and on the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board at Drexel Univ. She served as the Chair of the Visiting Committee of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2007. Deb obtained a BS in chemical engineering from Purdue Univ. and attended the Univ. of Cambridge, U.K., as a Winston Churchill Fellow. She is a registered Professional Engineer in Delaware, a Chartered Engineer in the U.K., and a Fellow of both AIChE and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). Deb has worked with AIChE in the following positions: Board of Directors (2005–2007); Chair, 2008 Blue Ribbon Awards Committee; Director, Virtual Local Section; Chair, Institute for Sustainability; Chair, Center for Ethical Practice; Vice Chair, Public Affairs and Information Committee; Chair, Licensing and Professional Development Committee; and member of the Foundation Board, the Career and Education Operating Council (CEOC), and the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Advisory Board.

Statement:

AIChE is a strong institution, and chemical engineering continues to be a critical part of the global economy. AIChE has a solid financial footing and will continue to position itself as the leading “convener” for discovery and innovation. We can strengthen and further position our Institute to bring together potential partners in academia, government, industry, and other science and engineering organizations to accelerate needed solutions. If I become President-Elect, my three goals will be: 1) to build on our strengths and to improve the visibility and impact of AIChE as the “go-to” global organization for chemical engineering, 2) to strengthen and grow our focused technical groups through unique and novel partnerships, and 3) to use technology to support and enhance recognition, awards, and engagement for all members.

AIChE has outstanding technical and organizational leaders, and we can always do more to recognize volunteer efforts and to say “thank you.” We currently have many interactions with industry and with academia, and we also have a strong AIChE Foundation to fund new programs and first-time activities. My forty-plus years as an AIChE member, along with my volunteer experience, strengthen my commitment to work with you, our board, and our staff to implement the AIChE strategic plan over the next three years.

I am interested in your ideas and concerns and would like to hear from you. Please contact me via email: deb@opsandss.com.

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Linda Broadbelt

Linda Broadbelt is the Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor in the Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Associate Dean for Research of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern Univ. She served as Chair of Northwestern’s Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering from 2009 to 2017. She also served as the Past Chair, Chair, First Vice Chair, and Second Vice Chair of AIChE’s Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Div., and previously served on the Executive Board of the Program Committee. She is currently an associate editor for Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Her honors include selection as the winner of the R. H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering from AIChE, the E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial Chemistry and Engineering from the American Chemical Society, and the AIChE Women’s Initiatives Committee’s Mentorship Excellence Award. She is a Fellow of AIChE, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2019.

Statement:

AIChE has been pivotal in shaping my career over the past 30 years, and I am honored to be nominated as a candidate for director. I will aim to contribute to AIChE’s success in catalyzing the careers of other chemical engineers and ensuring that AIChE continues to offer timely and high-quality programming and services for its members. In my leadership roles with the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Div., one notable activity that I championed was a new award for younger members of the division, and, as an Institute director, I would seek to promote other initiatives that engage and reward our young professionals and provide them with leadership opportunities. Through my involvement with the Executive Board of the Program Committee, I led the Meeting Quality Task Force, which was focused on data analysis of factors correlated with meeting and paper quality. A key factor was the ability of the meeting to attract global attendance, which varied significantly from year to year.

If AIChE is to deliver on its mission of being the global home of chemical engineers, we must continue to ensure that we provide content and services that are of value to chemical engineers around the world. As a director, I will plan programs that are focused on ensuring diverse participation from across the globe.

I welcome your feedback about additional areas where I can help define directions for our Institute. Send email to me at broadbelt@northwestern.edu.

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Douglas S. Clark

Doug Clark is Dean of the College of Chemistry and G. N. Lewis Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) at the Univ. of California, Berkeley. Clark previously served as Chair of CBE and Executive Associate Dean of the College. His research is in biochemical engineering, with particular emphasis on biocatalysis, biomaterials, and bioenergy. Among his numerous honors and awards, Clark was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and he is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineers. He received the James E. Bailey Award from AIChE’s Society for Biological Engineering, the Marvin J. Johnson Award in Microbial and Biochemical Technology from the American Chemical Society, and the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Award of AIChE. Since 1995, he has served as Editor-in-Chief of Biotechnology and Bioengineering.

Statement: 

As an AIChE member since the early 1980s, I have been privileged to take part in the remarkable evolution of chemical engineering’s profound impact on society. Over the past four decades, the importance of chemical engineering has grown in industries spanning a broad range of emerging technologies and new products, including advanced materials, biologics, and alternative energy. Furthermore, chemical engineers are applying principles of optimization at ever-decreasing scales, including the design of molecules and molecule-based materials.

As a chemical engineer and dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry - one of the world’s few academic institutions that houses chemistry and chemical engineering within a single college - I have had a front-row-seat to the expanding opportunities of chemical engineers at the interface of our discipline with chemistry, biology, and materials science. It has been a very exciting time to be a chemical engineer, and even greater opportunities lie ahead.

This is not to say that the intellectual core of chemical engineering is eroding or outdated; quite the opposite, it remains a solid foundation for the support of established industries, as well as new fields. AIChE is an ideal organization through which we can identify and promote the most exciting research and commercial opportunities to further the development of chemical engineering on all fronts, while ensuring that our academic programs continue to serve a diverse population of students and produce versatile graduates capable of tackling the world’s most pressing problems.

I would welcome the opportunity to contribute toward this mission and work to ensure that AIChE is best enabled to foster the professional growth and intellectual enrichment of all its members. Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or comments at clark@berkeley.edu.

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Brian H. Davison

Brian Davison is Chief Scientist for Biotechnology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He is also the Chief Science Officer of the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE’s) new Center for Bioenergy Innovation, and the previous BioEnergy Science Center. He is a Fellow of AIChE, the Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB), and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He has served on the Board of AIChE’s Society for Biological Engineering (SBE) since 2012, and on numerous DOE roadmaps. Davison is an editor of Biotechnology for Biofuels. He received an R&D 100 Award, SIMB’s C. D. Scott Award, and ORNL’s Science Communicator (2007) and Technology Transfer (2018) awards. He is an adjunct professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the Univ. of Tennessee. He founded ORNL’s LGBTQ employee group in 1995. He has also helped to develop public bioenergy science lessons with the Creative Discovery Museum (learnbiofuels.org). He earned his BSE from the Univ. of Rochester and his PhD from CalTech, both in chemical engineering.

Statement:

Chemical engineers are traditionally defined by our academic training; actually, we are defined by what we DO in diverse areas. Whether we work in academia, industry, or government, we all want our work to be communicated and used. Our conferences are the primary means for sharing information, and provide networking opportunities to accelerate our shared goals. I have been an active member of AIChE for over 30 years because I find colleagues in AIChE who share my goals and the value we place in our discipline as a means of solving serious challenges.

These personal goals of improved communication, networking, and diversity match AIChE’s strategic goals. We need to support sections, divisions, and entities like SBE to continue to diversify their programming - at major meetings and through targeted conferences. Since I recently helped start an SBE conference, I am aware of needs for mentorship in organizing meetings - especially when encouraging newer members to lead. We need to showcase the informal and formal training opportunities (i.e., the Leadership Development Program) offered by AIChE. By expanding opportunities for professional development and leadership, AIChE will increase its diversity, both personal and professional.

Beyond technical talks, communication extends to informing the public and speaking to management. This was reinforced at a career panel at our local AIChE student chapter, when I and others emphasized communication skills. Thus, another personal goal will be offering training and materials for public communication on key issues. I am honored to be re-nominated for director and pledge to listen via bhdcheme@gmail.com to help AIChE serve its members and society.

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Robert M. Kelly

Bob Kelly is Alcoa Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Director of the campus-wide Biotechnology Program at North Carolina State Univ. He served as Chair of AIChE’s Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division (Div. 15), and as Chair of the Academic Advisory Board of AIChE’s Society for Biological Engineering. Kelly’s research in the biology and biotechnology of extremophilic microorganisms has been recognized by national and international awards, including AIChE’s Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Award, the American Chemical Society’s Marvin Johnson Award in Biochemical Technology, and the American Society for Microbiology’s DuPont Industrial Biosciences Award. Earlier in his career, he worked at DuPont’s Marshall Laboratory in Philadelphia, PA, as a process engineer and was on the chemical engineering faculty at Johns Hopkins Univ. Kelly holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the Univ. of Virginia and a PhD in chemical engineering from North Carolina State Univ.

Statement:

My association with AIChE goes back to being student chapter president as an undergraduate at the Univ. of Virginia. Over the years, I have witnessed major changes in our discipline, including the integration of the life sciences and materials sciences as foundational elements of chemical engineering. AIChE must be inclusive, transparent in its operation (financially and administratively), and responsive to the ever-changing dynamics that relate to our members’ needs. As a director, I will work to make this happen and welcome your comments and suggestions (rmkelly@ncsu.edu).

Engaging younger professionals in AIChE: There is often a disconnect between younger engineers and AIChE upon graduation. I would like to see these engineers maintain a close association with student chapters at their alma maters (and chapters local to their place of employment) to pass along career advice to their undergraduate colleagues. This could be done through online, near-peer mentoring and by serving on both virtual and in-person informational panels. Social media provides some strategic avenues for making this happen. It is critical to establish a pipeline between younger chemical engineers and AIChE.

Re-assessing the discipline: Chemical engineering education needs to prepare one for an ever-expanding range of career directions. However, it is not clear that the current scope of our undergraduate curriculum reflects this disciplinary dynamic. It is time to re-assess our educational paradigm by connecting with chemical engineers at various career stages to incorporate their feedback into our curriculum and accreditation standards. This can be done through well-designed surveys and in-person and virtual “town meetings” led by AIChE. We need to listen to, embrace, and leverage the wisdom of our members.

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Robert D. Kiss 

Bob Kiss is Vice President of Process and Analytical Development at Sutro Biopharma, a company developing novel human biotherapeutics. He has more than 27 years of industrial biotechnology experience. Prior to Sutro, Bob spent 24 years at Genentech, where his final role was Senior Director and Distinguished Engineer leading cell culture development. His career focus areas have included control of product quality, barriers to adventitious agent contamination, and process scaleup and transfer for cell culture and fermentation processes. He currently focuses on industrializing the Sutro cell-free protein synthesis platform. He has participated in numerous industry/academia consortia within the biotechnology community, and was a director of AIChE’s Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Div. Bob received a BS (Univ. of California, Davis), MS (MIT), and PhD (MIT), all in chemical engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Statement:

I recall how joining AIChE as a student opened my eyes to the interesting things chemical engineers can do in the workplace. I continued to learn what it means to be a ChE through conferences, career growth, and working with and mentoring many engineers over the years. I would love the opportunity to help AIChE fulfill its six strategic priorities, particularly, leadership in advancing our profession, diversity and inclusion as it relates to early engagement, and addressing societal issues by utilizing our expertise. My approach would include leveraging my network within the biotechnology community to engage chemical engineers who can help further those priorities while also strengthening the biotech community’s ties to AIChE.

A key element of the societal strategic priority is clearly that of sustainability. Chemical engineers helped drive the industrialization of the world’s societies and economies, contributing to today’s standards of living. With that progress and prosperity has also come significant learning. We now understand that the basis upon which we have built much progress is compromising future human habitability of our planet. In my view, chemical engineers and AIChE are key resources that can and will drive the technical activities needed to avoid dramatic climate change. As an AIChE director, I would look to leverage the role, in concert with my NAE membership, to further AIChE’s efforts in this critical strategic area. Let’s work together to drive the necessary changes in how human societies are fueled and powered so that we can sustain this wonderful planet as we know it.

Thank you for your support of my candidacy and my interests in giving back via the AIChE community. I welcome your feedback at bkiss@alum.mit.edu.

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Ann L. Lee

Ann Lee is Head of Cell Therapy Development and Operations at Celgene, which acquired Juno Therapeutics where she was Executive Vice President of Technical Operations. She was previously Senior Vice President at Genentech, and Head of Global Technical Development at Roche, responsible for delivering the R&D pipeline and providing technical support for all commercial products. Prior to that, at Merck, she was Vice President of Chemical Technology and Engineering in the Manufacturing Div., overseeing process engineering and technical operations at 10 chemical sites around the world. She also had project leadership and functional leadership roles in the Merck Research Labs working on vaccines and bioprocess development. She studied chemical engineering at Cornell (BSChemE) and Yale (PhD). She is a member of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Over the course of her career, she has contributed to the commercialization of 23 new vaccines and medicines.

Statement:

My life’s work and passion for the past 30 years has been developing vaccines and medicines that save lives or make a real difference to patients. I want to pay it forward using my wisdom and experience to help AIChE better equip our profession to take on societal challenges. Below are three areas I am passionate about.

Innovation: Today’s grand technological challenges are complex and require a broad understanding. It is critical that chemical engineers strive to be at the forefront of innovation, built upon foundational engineering proficiency, technology development, a willingness to embrace diverse thinking, learning across disciplines, and effective collaboration and teamwork.

Talent pipeline: Retaining chemical engineering students and attracting middle school and high school students into STEM and chemical engineering are critical to our future. We can do that by emphasizing the purpose of our work and inspiring the next generation. Our exciting work in biotechnology, renewable energy, green chemistry, and novel advanced materials to name just a few should capture young imaginations.

Development and lifelong learning: The rapid changes affecting what jobs will look like in the next decade and beyond is both intimidating and exciting. We can help ensure future opportunities by anticipating the best ways to enhance skills in the workforce, keep members learning, develop key curricula, and provide mentorship. We can partner across academic communities, as well as with other professional societies and countries, to develop impactful content and information delivery.

It would be an honor to serve you and AIChE. I welcome your ideas and comments at annlee98101@gmail.com.

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Peter Lodal

Peter N. Lodal is a Technical Fellow in Global Health, Safety, Environmental and Security Services at Eastman Chemical Co., a global leader in specialty chemicals. He has served Eastman in various positions for nearly 42 years in both process engineering and process safety and loss prevention roles. He is Eastman’s representative to AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Technical Steering Committee, and is the chair of the CCPS Planning Committee, as well as a past director of his local East Tennessee Section. Pete also chairs the Process Safety Committee for the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Pete is a licensed Professional Engineer in Tennessee and a CCPS Certified Process Safety Professional (CCPSC). He is also a Fellow of both AIChE and CCPS, and was the recipient of the 2016 AIChE Walton-Miller Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Fields of Chemical Engineering Loss Prevention and Safety and Health. He holds BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering from Purdue Univ.

Statement:

I believe that my nearly 42 years in industry, along with more than 35 years of leadership in professional and trade associations, position me to help build bridges between key stakeholders to implement the objectives of the new AIChE strategic plan. All stakeholders must have a seat at the table: regulators, educators, R&D, design, operations, and maintenance. My experiences at Eastman gave me the opportunity to work on world-class technologies, such as our chemicals-from-coal initiative. My work with trade and professional organizations has allowed me to participate in multiple CCPS Guideline book projects, develop the CCPS Process Safety Boot Camp series of workshops, author or coauthor more than 20 technical papers, and teach short courses and seminars on a variety of management and engineering safety topics.

I have had the opportunity to work with, and understand the concerns of, regulators, universities, and industry associates, often working toward solutions to key issues that addressed the needs of all stakeholders. Through my work with the AIChE Academy, I have helped enhance both university and lifelong learning opportunities in process safety.

My combination of industry experience and leadership roles in multiple organizations uniquely position me to further AIChE’s strategic objectives around lifelong learning, societal impact, stakeholder success and inclusion by setting direction and generating enthusiasm to achieve the stated goals. Together, we can, and must, “get it right” in design, implementation, and compliance. The societal impact of “getting it wrong” is simply unacceptable.

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Todd Pryzbycien

Todd Przybycien began his career at Monsanto Agricultural Co. before moving to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he launched a teaching and research program in biomanufacturing. He then spent 20 years at Carnegie Mellon Univ. (CMU), where he was founding head of the Biomedical Engineering Dept. He returned to RPI in 2018. His interests in biomanufacturing and drug delivery have led to collaborations with companies including Amgen, Biogen, Celgene, Genentech, Genzyme, and Merck. Within AIChE, he chaired the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Div. and served as program area 15c (Bioengineering) chair. He has also served on the managing board of AIChE’s Society for Biological Engineering since 2010, and on CEP’s editorial board since 2014. He is a Fellow of AIChE, and is also active in the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals.

Statement:

The 2018 Institute strategic plan identifies six priorities - leadership, communities, content, diversity and inclusion, societal issues, and transformational technologies - to continue the terrific trajectory of the past decade. While each priority has action statements, measurable goals, ownership, and tactics for each action are now needed. For example, the diversity and inclusion priority includes the statement: “Begin early for engagement (i.e., middle and high schools).” Perhaps the Education Div. could lead the development of level-appropriate chemical engineering content, including hands-on activities in partnership with the recently relaunched K-12 Committee. Each technical division could be asked to consider contributing a module relevant to its technical focus. These groups could further partner with local sections to recruit a diverse group of volunteers for additional input and to disseminate this content among students and schools in their regions. The AIChE Academy professional education platform could perhaps be extended to house these pre-professional educational materials. We might set a goal of one annual middle school program sponsored by each local section within three years. We might set a goal to reach well-served and underserved schools and students in equal numbers. We might aim to reach 100 students or more per year, per program.

I am experienced in strategic planning, having led the collaborative development of three successive plans for CMU’s nascent Biomedical Engineering Dept., and co-led the faculty experience component of CMU’s university-wide Strategic Plan 2025. I get jazzed by generating ideas with others. I am deliberate about the organizations I join, and I expect to roll up my sleeves regardless of my role. I have benefited both professionally and personally from my membership in AIChE since my student days, and would be honored to give back as a director. Please share your thoughts about AIChE and the realization of its strategic plan at przybt3@rpi.edu.

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