Tracy Benson received his PhD from Mississippi State University in 2008 and began at Lamar University in the fall of 2009 as an Assistant Professor. He has recently been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. His research interests include the minimization of industrial wastes, including unwanted byproducts and wasted energies, by developing alternate chemical transformation pathways using novel catalysts combined with process development.
He frequently chairs/co-chairs AIChE and AOCS sessions and is currently the chair of the AIChE Sustainability Engineering Forum Area Plenary session.
Research interests include: catalytic transformation of recalcitrant molecules (such as carbon dioxide) into useful fuels and chemicals; minimization of byproduct and wastewater in the biodiesel industry; and catalyst synthesis for the hydrotreating of phospholipids.