AIChE Gala Honorees & Dinner Chairs

Seifi Ghasemi became chairman, president and chief executive officer of Air Products in July 2014. In this role, he is focused on setting the strategy and policies of the company, developing leadership, and meeting shareholder commitments.

Bruce Chinn was the president and chief executive officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical, a global petrochemical joint venture.

Jonathan S. Lock is Chemours’ Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer a role he has held since June 2023. He joined Chemours in 2018 as Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations.  Most recently he was Senior Vice President and...

Katie McDonald is vice president, Corporate Communications and Corporate Relations, at Air Products. She has leadership responsibility for employee communications, executive communications, financial and sustainability communications, media relations, crisis communications, and digital and...

Karen McKee is President of ExxonMobil Chemical Company and Vice President, ExxonMobil Corporation based in Houston.

John Sampson is Sr. Vice President for Operations, Manufacturing & Engineering for Dow. In this role, Sampson presides over the Operations Leadership Team (OLT) and is accountable for the global Operations organization consisting of more than 22,000 employees across the globe. He is a member...

Kelly joined AdvanSix as senior vice president and chief human resources officer in 2020. Kelly’s motto is – Be Curious About People!

Dr. Gavin Towler is the Corporate Chief Scientist, Sustainability Technologies of Honeywell Performance Materials Technologies.

Christophe Beck is Chairman and CEO of Ecolab, the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and the resources vital to life.

Since 2018 Michael K. Wirth has been Chairman of the Board and CEO of Chevron Corporation.

Darrell Brown is President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Industrial for Ecolab, the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and vital resources.

Bruce Chinn was the president and chief executive officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical, a global petrochemical joint venture.

Dr. Gavin Towler is the Corporate Chief Scientist, Sustainability Technologies of Honeywell Performance Materials Technologies.

Stéphane Bancel has served as Moderna's Chief Executive Officer since October 2011 and as a member of Moderna’s board of directors since March 2011. Before joining the Company, Mr. Bancel served for five years as Chief Executive Officer of the French diagnostics company bioMérieux SA. From July...

Chris Jahn is President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the leading association representing the $553-billion U.S. chemicals industry.

Mark Vergnano serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Chemours Company. He previously served as the company’s initial President and CEO upon its spinoff from DuPont in July 2015 until July 2021.

Ashley founded HBCU Week in 2017, a company whose mission is to encourage enrollment into HBCUs, provide scholarship dollars for matriculation and maintain a pipeline of employment from undergraduate school to corporate America.  

Bruce Chinn was the president and chief executive officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical, a global petrochemical joint venture.

Jim Fitterling is the chairman and chief executive officer of Dow, a global materials science company with 2020 sales of approximately $39 billion.

Karen McKee is President of ExxonMobil Chemical Company and Vice President, ExxonMobil Corporation based in Houston.

Dr. Thien has worked in new product and process development at Merck for over 30 years. After receiving his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Caltech (1982), an Sc.D. from MIT in biochemical engineering (1988) and a post doc at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, Mike joined the...

AIChE is pleased to honor Merck for its innovation in developing therapies for the prevention and treatment of today’s most challenging diseases which affect people around the world, including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, and Alzheimer’s.

AIChE is pleased to honor Procter & Gamble’s achievements in sustainability— leadership in helping to reduce plastic waste, develop new technologies which make recycling and recovering plastics easier, and efforts to restrict the flow of plastics into the world’s oceans.

Doing a World of Good Medal

The Doing a World of Good Medal will be presented to Jay D. Keasling, Professor, University of California, Berkeley and Senior Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The Doing a World of Good Medal honors positive societal achievements...

Bruce Chinn was the president and chief executive officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical, a global petrochemical joint venture.

Kathy Fish leads P&G’s global innovation program and strategy, its nearly $2 billion annual investment in Research & Development (R&D), and its end-to-end packaging transformation.

Dr. Anne Roby is Executive Vice President. Dr. Roby previously served as Praxair’s senior vice president, responsible for Global Supply Systems, R&D, Global Operations Excellence, Global Procurement, Global Strategic Sales, Sustainability, and Safety, Health and Environment.

Dr. Thien has worked in new product and process development at Merck for over 30 years. After receiving his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Caltech (1982), an Sc.D. from MIT in biochemical engineering (1988) and a post doc at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, Mike joined the...

Bhavesh V. (Bob) Patel is chief executive officer and chairman of the management board of LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world.

Jack Futcher is president and chief operating officer of Bechtel Group, Inc. He is responsible for the management, and oversight of Bechtel’s global operations, is chairman of the operating committee, and a member of the company’s board of directors.

Andreas joined AEA Investors LP in 2017 as an Operating Partner focusing on value-added industrial products.

Lynne Lachenmyer is Vice President, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Dallas, Texas.

Jeff Sipes is the manager of Marketing and Business Development for Bechtel Oil, Gas & Chemicals based in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Gavin Towler is the Corporate Chief Scientist, Sustainability Technologies of Honeywell Performance Materials Technologies.

Doing a World of Good Medal

The Doing a World of Good Medal will be presented to S. Shariq Yosufzai for his outstanding leadership in creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive profession. The Doing a World of Good Medal recognizes the achievements of an engineer whose work has had a positive impact on society and the world.

Inge G. Thulin began his career with 3M Europe in 1979, and assumed key roles in marketing, sales and management over the course of his career. In 2003, he was appointed 3M’s executive vice president for international operations and, in 2011, was named executive vice president and chief...

The 2016 Gala Award for BASF Corporation will be accepted by Teressa Szelest, President, Market & Business Development, North America. Wayne T. Smith is Chairman and CEO of BASF Corporation in North America; a role he assumed on May 1, 2015.

George A. Scangos, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Biogen, Inc. and has served in this position and as a member of Biogen’s Board of Directors since July 2010. From 1996 to July 2010, Dr. Scangos served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Exelixis, Inc., a drug...

Mo Hossain is a member of Ennovance Group’s Investment Committee and is the founding Managing Partner of Ennovance Capital. Mr. Hossain leads investments across various classes of alternative assets ranging from hedge fund allocations to private equity investments.  Mr. Hossain has a...

Roz oversees professionals in nearly two-dozen countries working to inspire and engage the world’s next generation of technology innovators, continuing Intel’s long-standing commitment to corporate responsibility and social impact...

Dr. Ashish K. Khandpur is 3M’s chief technology officer and senior vice president of Research and Development. With the company for more than 20 years, he leads about 8,300 researchers around the world.

Ashish began his 3M career as a senior research engineer in 1995. Over the years...

Andreas joined AEA Investors LP in 2017 as an Operating Partner focusing on value-added industrial products.

Paul McKenzie is the Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations & Technology at Biogen and has served in this position since July 2016. Dr. McKenzie is responsible for asset management, technical development, global manufacturing, supply chain operations, quality, and engineering...

Teressa Szelest began her current role as President, Market & Business Development North America BASF Corporation on May 1,2015. She is responsible for BASF’s strategic business development and marketing across the region, focusing on customer relations and forging new business...

Doing a World of Good Medal

The Doing a World of Good Medal will be presented to S. Shariq Yosufzai for his outstanding leadership in creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive profession. The Doing a World of Good Medal recognizes the achievements of an engineer whose work has had a positive impact on society and the world.

A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Rex Tillerson earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin before joining Exxon Company, U.S.A. in 1975 as a production engineer.

In 1989, he became general manager of Exxon Company U.S.A.’s central...

Andrew N. Liveris is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company, a global technology company focused on developing innovative solutions at the intersections of the physical, materials, polymer and biological sciences with 2014 annual sales of more than $58 billion.

Mark J. Costa is Chief Executive Officer of Eastman Chemical Company and Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. The fourth CEO in Eastman’s 20-year history as a public company, Mark has been instrumental in developing the strategies and strengthening the capabilities that have...

Neil A. Chapman is President of ExxonMobil Chemical Company in Houston, Texas.

Before his appointment January 1, 2015, he was senior vice president of the company’s global polymers businesses, a position he held since 2011. He served as executive assistant to the Chairman of...

Jim Fitterling is the chairman and chief executive officer of Dow, a global materials science company with 2020 sales of approximately $39 billion.

Mark K. Cox is Senior Vice President, Chief Manufacturing and Engineering Officer for Eastman Chemical Company.

Mark has responsibility for Eastman's global manufacturing, engineering and construction operations. He was previously Vice President, Worldwide Engineering &...

Tom Hayes serves as corporate vice president of global operations at Cargill, a provider of food, agriculture, financial and industrial products. In this role he is responsible for Environment, Health and Safety and Plant Operations across Cargill’s 1,500 diverse locations in 67 countries...

Andreas joined AEA Investors LP in 2017 as an Operating Partner focusing on value-added industrial products.

Doing a World of Good Medal

The Doing a World of Good Medal will be presented to S. Shariq Yosufzai for his outstanding leadership in creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive profession. The Doing a World of Good Medal recognizes the achievements of an engineer whose work has had a positive impact on society and the world.

Dave Cote is chairman and CEO of Honeywell, a $38 billion diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials. He was elected president...

David Seaton is the chairman and chief executive officer of Fluor Corporation, one of the largest publicly held engineering and construction companies in the world.  He was named Fluor's CEO and joined its board of directors in February of 2011.  In February 2012, he was elected...

Steve Angel is chairman, president and CEO of Praxair, Inc., an $11 billion industrial gases company of 27,000 employees operating in over 50 countries. He became chairman in May 2007 and has been president and chief executive officer since January 2007.

Raj L. Gupta, Senior Advisor, joined New Mountain in 2009. From 1999 - 2009, Mr. Gupta was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rohm and Haas. Mr. Gupta held a variety of posts at the company beginning in 1971. He was elected a vice president of the company and was named director for the...

Doing a World of Good Medal

The Doing a World of Good Medal will be presented to S. Shariq Yosufzai for his outstanding leadership in creating a more equitable, diverse and inclusive profession. The Doing a World of Good Medal recognizes the achievements of an engineer whose work has had a positive impact on society and the world.

Richard White serves as Avantor's Chief Operating Officer and interim CEO. He joined the company in 2012 as executive vice president of operations, directing the company’s global efforts in manufacturing, logistics/supply chain, quality, procurement and EHS&S (environment, health, safety and security).