AIChE Institute Lecture renamed in honor of thermodynamics pioneer John M. Prausnitz

The chemical engineering community, as well as several organizations that employ chemical engineers, has come together under the auspices of the AIChE Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) — to create an endowment to fund the organization’s annual Institute Lecture. To insure the lecture’s future and to enhance its prestige, these donors contributed funds to endow the lectureship in the name of John M. Prausnitz, professor of chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

The inaugural John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecture will be presented on Wednesday, November 16, at AIChE’s 2016 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California.

Prausnitz is considered the founder of molecular thermodynamics, which transformed the ways in which chemical engineers learn and practice their profession. His humanistic approach to scholarship and teaching have bridged technology and society, and his work has been recognized with many honors — including election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2003, Prausnitz was awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science for his work.

First presented in 1949, AIChE’s Institute Lecture invites a distinguished member of AIChE to present a comprehensive, authoritative review of the chemical engineering science in his or her field of specialization.

Learn more about the AIChE Foundation’s John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecture endowment fund.

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