Alan E. Nelson
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) announced today that Alan E. Nelson, Vice President of Technology – New Energy at SLB (Houston, Texas), will become President of AIChE in 2024. Nelson succeeds 2023 President Billy B. Bardin, Global Climate Transition Director at Dow. Joseph D. Smith, the Laufer Energy Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, will become 2024 President-elect, and will succeed Nelson as AIChE President in 2025.
Ana Davis, Head of Health, Safety, and Environment in North America at Syngenta, will begin a three-year term as Treasurer in 2024. As Treasurer, Davis succeeds Peter N. Lodal, Technical Fellow in Global Health, Safety, Environment, and Security Services at Eastman Chemical Company.
Newly elected members of the AIChE Board of Directors are: Concetta La Marca, Senior Principal Consultant at the Chemours Company; Dave Parrillo, Vice President of Research and Development for Dow’s Packaging and Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons division; Jean W. Tom, Executive Director of Development Engineering and Chemistry Process Development at Bristol Myers Squibb; and Jessica O. Winter, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University. The directors serve three-year terms.
Prior to his role at SLB, a global technology company driving energy innovations, Alan Nelson served as Senior Vice President of Battery Materials for Redwood Materials; Chief Technology Officer for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC); Chief Technology Officer and Chief Executive Officer of New Business Development for Johnson Matthey; Global Research and Development Director for The Dow Chemical Company; and as Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Alberta. Throughout his engineering career, Alan has been responsible for the development and commercialization of environmentally sustainable technologies, including lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, carbon capture and utilization, and hydrogen production.
A Fellow of AIChE, Nelson served on AIChE’s Board of Directors (2015–2017), and has been a member of AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), Continuing Education Committee, Awards Committee, Career and Education Operating Council, and Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division. He also chaired the President’s Blue Ribbon Committee on e-Learning and led the creation and launch of AIChE’s e-Learning program.
Alan is a Professional Engineer in Alberta, Canada; a Chartered Engineer in the U.K.; and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). He received a BS from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and his PhD from Michigan Technological University, both in chemical engineering.