The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was actually established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineers.
Soni Olufemi Olubunmi Oyekan is a Nigerian-American chemical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, author, mentor and educator. Oyekan is the President and CEO of Prafis Energy Solutions, an oil refining and energy consulting company. During his career he has been involved in both research and development and management at a number of major oil companies. He holds patents and has made other contributions in the areas of chemical engineering, oil refining, and catalytic systems, including the publication of Catalytic Naphtha Reforming Process (2018).
The National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers or NOBCChE is a nonprofit, professional organization. NOBCChE's goal is to increase the number of minorities in science, technology, and engineering fields. The organization accomplishes this by creating bonds with professionals working at science-related companies and faculty at local school districts in order to get more minorities to pursue a career in science and engineering fields. NOBCChE focuses on establishing diversity programs for the professional development of young kids and to spread knowledge in science and engineering. NOBCChE chapters can be found nationwide.
Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., FREng SLMH, is an American engineer, physician, scientist, innovator and a University Professor of the University of Connecticut.
Omolola (Lola) Eniola-Adefeso is a Nigerian-American chemical engineer and the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. Eniola-Adefeso is also a co-founder and chief scientific officer of Asalyxa Bio. Her research looks to design biocompatible functional particles for targeted drug delivery.
Rosemarie Wesson is the Associate Dean of Research at City College of New York. She was the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan. She has worked at the National Science Foundation, Louisiana State University and Dow Chemical Company.
Kristala Jones Prather is an American professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research is focused on using novel bioprocesses to design of recombinant microorganisms for the production of small molecules.
Camille Petit is a Reader in Materials Engineering at Imperial College London. She designs and characterises functional materials for environmental sustainability.
Malika Jeffries-EL is an American chemist and associate professor of chemistry at Boston University studying organic semiconductors. Specifically, her research focuses on developing organic semiconductors that take advantage of the processing power of polymers and the electronic properties of semiconductors to create innovative electronic devices. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2018.
Carol Klein Hall is an American chemical engineer, the Camille Dreyfus Distinguished University Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. Her research involves biomolecule simulation, self-assembly of soft materials, and the design of synthetic peptides.
Pablo G. Debenedetti is the Dean for Research, the Class of 1950 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science, and a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University. His research focuses on thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and computer simulations of liquids and glasses.
Henry T. Brown was a chemical engineer and the first African American to earn a BS degree in chemical engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He became the first African American director of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1983. He was also the first African American to serve as town government official in both Metuchen, New Jersey and Weston, Massachusetts.
Gilda A. Barabino is the president of the Olin College of Engineering, where she is also a Professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering. Previously, she served as the Dean of The Grove School of Engineering at the City College of New York, and as a professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and the CUNY School of Medicine. On March 4, 2021, she became the President-Elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
JoAnn Slama Lighty is an American chemical engineer who is a professor at Boise State University. Her research considers carbon capture, chemical looping and black carbon emissions. In 2020 she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her air quality research.
Christine E. Schmidt is an American biomedical engineer. As a professor at the University of Florida, Schmidt was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame for her creation of the Avance Nerve Graft which has "improved the lives of numerous patients suffering from peripheral nerve damage."
Clare McCabe is an American chemical engineer who is Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Engineering and Professor of Engineering at Vanderbilt University. She was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019. Her research makes use of molecular modelling to understand the properties of biological systems, fluids and nanomaterials.
Martha Anne Grover is an American chemical engineer who is a Professor and Chair of Graduate Studies at the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Her research considers molecular self assembly and the emergence of biological functions.
Linda Jean Broadbelt is an American chemical engineer who is the Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor and Associate Dean for Research of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. Her research considers kinetics modeling, polymerization and catalysis.
Surita Bhatia is an American chemist who is Professor and Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs at Stony Brook University. Her work considers the structure of soft materials, including polymeric hydrogels and colloidal glasses. She was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Society of Rheology in 2020.
The Winifred Burks-Houck Professional Leadership Awards are rewarded annually by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) to recognize the contributions of African American Women in scientific and technological fields of study and work. The award is named for Winifred Burks-Houck, environmental chemist and the first female president of NOBCChE.
