AIChE’s Nominating Committee has announced the slate of candidates for president-elect, secretary, and four director positions for the 2025 AIChE Board.
The president-elect will be elected to a three-year term, serving one year each as president-elect, president, and past president. The secretary and directors are elected for three-year terms.
Statements from the candidates are linked to below.
Important dates
Voting by paper and electronic proxy ballot will begin on Aug. 26 and end on Sept. 30. The election results will be announced at the Annual Business Meeting in San Diego, CA.
2024 Election Timeline
- May 6: Petition candidate cut-off date
- Aug. 12: Election ballot mail date
- Aug. 26: Election commences
- Sept. 30: Election ballot receipt deadline
- Oct. 28: Election results announced at the AIChE Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA
2024 Election Slate for the 2025 Board of Directors
President Elect
Anne O’Neal
Anne O’Neal is Manager of Process Safety Culture and Competency at Chevron and an AIChE Board Member and Fellow. Her 42-year career includes several other senior positions in process safety and health, environment and safety. She also founded Chevron’s early technical career development program after assignments in process engineering, operations, maintenance, strategic planning, and creating Chevron’s first management system approach to process safety.
Gavin Towler
Gavin Towler is Honeywell’s Chief Scientist for Sustainability. Before that he held several R&D roles including Chief Technology Officer of Honeywell UOP. He has worked in process design and clean fuels technologies for 32 years, has 77 patents, co-authored a textbook on process design, and is a Chartered Engineer, AIChE Fellow, and member of the National Academy of Engineering. Gavin has a BA and MEng from Cambridge and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, all in chemical engineering.
Secretary
David Dixon
David J. Dixon holds the Robert L. Sandvig Professorship in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT). He is a chemical engineer with BS/MS degrees from SDSMT and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. At SDSMT, he has served as: Principal Investigator for an NSF-I/UCRC BioEnergy Center; department chair, starting up a chemical and biomolecular engineering PhD program; a Fulbright Scholar, developing university-level partnerships in Germany, Mongolia, and Peru; and an instructor offering the department’s first stand-alone course on process safety.
Julianne Holloway
Julianne Holloway is an associate professor of chemical engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). Prior to ASU, Julianne completed her BS and PhD in chemical engineering at Drexel University and her postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been active in AIChE since 2006, including as the “Celebrating 20 Years of Women in Chemical Engineering” Symposium Chair, Materials Engineering and Science Division Director, and Biomaterials Area Chair.
Director
Akua Asa-Awuku
Akua Asa-Awuku is currently a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the A. James Clark School of Engineering and Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her BS (2003) in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her MS (2006) and PhD (2008) in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Steve Beaudoin
Stephen P. (Steve) Beaudoin is Professor in Purdue’s Davidson School of Chemical Engineering. He is Founding Director of the Purdue Energetics Research Center (PERC), where he directs multiple DoD-sponsored research centers focused on explosives and propellant engineering. He is also Founding Academic Director of a novel online Master’s degree program focused on defense and security that serves three U.S. Navy bases. Beaudoin was the 2021–2022 Chair of the Purdue University Senate, and has served Purdue as Interim Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs.
Jerry Forest
Jerry Forest brings four decades of experience to his candidacy for the AIChE Board of Directors. As Senior Director of Process Safety at Celanese, he achieved a 90% reduction in process safety events over 13 years. Currently serving as a process safety improvement consultant at Jerry Forest, LLC, and as adjunct lecturer in chemical engineering process safety at Louisiana State University (LSU), Jerry’s expertise is widely recognized.
David Klanecky
Recognized for his impressive 30+ year career in R&D, operations, and commercial and strategic leadership roles in North America, Europe, and Asia, David Klanecky brings this experience to his role as the CEO and President of Cirba Solutions, the most comprehensive and trusted battery materials and management provider. Leading the strategic growth of Cirba Solutions, Klanecky led a capital raise, securing roughly $300 million. Collaborating with the private and public sectors, David is focused on expanding operational and technology capabilities to support the growing needs of the circular battery supply chain.
Luke Landherr
Luke Landherr is a College of Engineering Distinguished Teaching Professor and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in the Chemical Engineering Department at Northeastern University. He received his BS from Lafayette College and his PhD at Cornell University, before completing an NRC postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. His NSF-funded research into comics and videos as visual learning tools for students has enabled him to create groundbreaking educational tools.
Robert Y. Ofoli
Robert Y. Ofoli is an AIChE Fellow. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering (Carnegie Mellon University), a PhD in agricultural engineering (Michigan State University), and a BS in agricultural mechanization (University of Maine). He is an associate professor of chemical engineering, student chapter advisor, and Faculty Excellence Advocate for the College of Engineering at Michigan State University, with active research in plastics upcycling. His service to AIChE includes the Student Chapters Committee (Chair in 2006), Chem-E-Car Committee, Chem-E-Car Rules Committee, and member of the team that successfully revamped Chem-E-Car operations safety as requested by the AIChE Board.
Raymond Rooks
Raymond Rooks is a principal engineer at AVN Corporation, where he develops new chemical processes, and designs and operates process separation systems, in particular distillation systems, for a range of clients and chemistries. Before AVN, he spent 14 years at Praxair/Linde in cryogenic technology, working in process development, technology management, and competitive analysis. He also spent eight years at Union Carbide/Dow Chemical in process separations.
Frank van Lier
Frank van Lier was Global Senior Director of Process Technology for The Lubrizol Corporation, retiring in 2022 with 40+ years industrial experience across R&D, operations, and technology. His experience included numerous leadership roles at Lubrizol’s Ohio and Texas plants and a year as the General Manager of Lubrizol’s Zhuhai, China, manufacturing facility (2018). He also spent six years on the board of the Lubrizol/Indian Oil joint venture located in Mumbai, India.
Comments
Impressive credentials. Expect good value addition to AIChE.
Impressive credentials. Expect good value addition to AIChE.
Impressive credentials. Expect good value addition to AIChE.