Lilia Ann Abron

Last updated

Lilia Ann Abron
Born (1945-03-08) March 8, 1945 (age 78)
Memphis, Tennessee U.S.
Alma materLeMoyne-Owen College (B.S. in chemistry)

Washington University in St. Louis (M.S. in environmental engineering)

Contents

University of Iowa (1972, PhD in chemical engineering, thesis: Transport Mechanism in Hollow Nylon Fiber Reverse Osmosis Membranes for the Removal of DDT and Aldrin from Water)
Occupation(s) Entrepreneur
Chemical Engineer
Years active1972–present
Known forFirst African American woman to be awarded a PhD in chemical engineering

Lilia Ann Abron (born March 8, 1945 [1] ) is an entrepreneur and chemical engineer. [2] In 1972, Abron became the first African American woman to earn a PhD in chemical engineering. [3] [4]

Early life

Abron was born in Memphis, Tennessee, was the second of four daughters. [5] She was born prematurely, at home, and had to be rushed to the hospital by her aunt in a cab, as ambulances were not available for African Americans at the time. [5]

Her parents were both educators who had attended LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne-Owen College). [5] Her father, Ernest Buford Abron, had sustained an injury playing football in college, and was thus unable to serve during World War II. He worked as a Pullman porter and later was a teacher. Abron's mother, Bernice Wise Abron, was a typist from Arkansas. She typed briefs for Wiley Branton, the Little Rock Nine's defense attorney. [5]

Abron's parents were Baptists and she was baptized at the age of nine. She participated in Girl Scouts and in the junior choir at her church. [6] [5]

Abron attended a public school and was placed in the school's math and science track. After graduating from Memphis High School, she decided to study medicine. [5]

Education

Abron studied at LeMoyne-Owen College. She was granted a scholarship, which she lost after her freshman year because her grades were not high enough. [5] She switched from a biology major to a chemistry major. [5] In 1966, Abron earned a B.S. in chemistry from LeMoyne-Owen College, with distinction. [5]

Abron's advisor at LeMoyne-Owen, Dr. Bueler, suggested that she study engineering. She also credits Dr. Juanita Williamson, an English Professor at LeMoyne-Owen and a fellow African American, with inspiring her to pursue further education. [1] She was offered a full-tuition scholarship from Washington University in St. Louis to study sanitary engineering, funded by the Public Health Service. Washington University was very different to anything she had experienced up to that point: it was her first time away from home, one of only two women in a large class of predominantly white males. She completed her entire degree in just thirteen months, graduating in 1968 with an MS in Environmental Engineering. [2] [5] During her time at Washington University, Abron developed the goal of working in academia and gained experience by working in her professors' labs. [5]

After graduating, Abron found it difficult to find work as an environmental engineer. She worked for a year as an environmental chemist in the Kansas City water department, then for another year as a research environmental chemist at the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Chicago. [5]

She began her PhD in September 1968 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's department of civil engineering, under the supervision of Dr. Rolfe Skrimbee. When he moved to the University of Iowa, she moved with him. However, Dr. Skrimbree left the University of Iowa before Abron finished her research, [5] so she completed her degree in chemical engineering in 1972, under the supervision of James O. Osburn. [7] She was the first African American woman to be awarded a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, [8] and only the third woman to receive a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa. Her thesis focused on reverse osmosis, and was titled: "Transport Mechanism in Hollow Nylon Fiber Reverse Osmosis Membranes for the Removal of DDT and Aldrin from Water". [5] [7]

Career

Abron was assistant professor of civil engineering at Tennessee State University from 1971. She was also an assistant professor of environmental engineering Vanderbilt University from 1973. In 1975, she moved Howard University as assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, simultaneously working at Washington Technical Institute (now part of the University of the District of Columbia). [8] [5]

Dr. Abron is a registered professional engineer, and a member of the Water Environmental Federation, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Water Works Association, the Society of Sigma Xi, and the American Association of University Women. [5] [9] She also serves on the Engineering Advisory Board for the National Sciences Foundation. [5]

In 2004, she was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [10] She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2020, for "leadership in providing technology-driven sustainable housing and environmental engineering solutions in the United States and South Africa". [11] She was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, DC Alpha Chapter as an Eminent Engineer, and she is a History Maker®.

She has been bestowed the highest honor – Distinguished Member, Class of 2021 – of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). As of January 2021, she became President of The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES).  

PEER Consultants, P.C.

In 1978, Abron founded and became President and CEO of PEER Consultants, P.C. [3] [5] [12] [13] She was the first African-American to start an engineering consulting firm focused on environmental issues and concerns relating to the physical and human environments. [14] PEER offers engineering and construction management services, environmental management and sustainability services, and advisory/consulting services. [15] With headquarters in Washington, D.C., and additional offices in Baltimore, Maryland, Burlington, Massachusetts, and Clearwater, Florida, PEER is strategically located to serve its clients throughout the U.S. Since 1978, the firm is focused on providing transformative, appropriate, and sustainable solutions for its clients’ challenging environmental problems.

With this consulting firm, Abron succeeded in proving that by enacting sustainable practices in poverty-stricken parts of the world, living conditions there can drastically improve. [16] In 1995, Abron co-founded PEER Africa Pty. (Ltd.), with the mission of building energy-efficient homes in post-apartheid South Africa. [8] Abron was presented with a United Nations award for her work in developing low-cost energy-efficient housing. [5] The company carried out projects all over Africa, including in Mali, Uganda and Nigeria.

Personal life

Abron is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. [9] She gives talks and presentations related to energy and the environment. [17] [18] She is particularly active in promoting science education, and through her company, offers financial support to science fair participants. PEER staff are encouraged to work with students in their neighborhood schools, and Abron herself mentors students. [5]

She cites the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson as an inspiration for entering the environmental movement. [2]

Abron is a Christian who began her three-year term serving as deacon at The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C. on June 17, 2018. [6] She previously served as president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Jack and Jill for America. [5] She also plays the hand bells in the Angelus church choir. [5] [9]

Abron has three sons and six grandchildren, only one of which is a granddaughter. [5] [8] [6]

Honors

Related Research Articles

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eula Bingham</span> American scientist (1929–2020)

Eula Bingham was an American scientist, best known as an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter. During her tenure as the head of OSHA, she eliminated more than 1,000 pedantic regulations and shifted the agency's focus to health and safety risks, establishing strict standards for workers' rights to know about their exposure to hazardous substances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menachem Elimelech</span> American engineer

Menachem Elimelech is the Sterling Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University. Elimelech is the only professor from an engineering department at Yale to be awarded the Sterling professorship since its establishment in 1920. Elimelech moved from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to Yale University in 1998 and founded Yale's Environmental Engineering program.

The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) is a society of professional engineers and scientists who have demonstrated special expertise in environmental engineering or science beyond that normally required for professional practice. The principal purpose of the Academy is serving the public by improving the practice, elevating the standards, and advancing public recognition of environmental engineering and science through a program of specialty certification, similar to that used in healthcare and other professions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Arnold</span> American chemist, Nobel laureate (born 1956)

Frances Hamilton Arnold is an American chemical engineer and Nobel Laureate. She is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In 2018, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes.

Johannes "Hans" van Leeuwen is educator, engineer, inventor, researcher, and entrepreneur. He is an emeritus professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University and an entrepreneur in ethanol co-product development. His research and innovations have worked to solve various problems including, new water purification methods, a way of creating food and animal feed from waste, and a process in making the purest alcohol ever made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Abriola</span> American environmental/civil engineer

Linda Marie Abriola is an American environmental and civil engineer who specializes in the study of organic chemical liquid contaminants in porous media. She is currently the Joan Wernig and E. Paul Sorensen Professor of Engineering at the Brown University School of Engineering.

Jennie Patrick is an American chemical engineer and educator. As a high school student, she participated in the integration of Alabama's public schools. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979, she became one of the first African American women in the United States to earn a doctorate in traditional chemical engineering. She went on to pioneer work on supercritical fluid extraction. Her educational work has focused on the mentoring of African American and female students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Oerther</span> American Professor (born 1972)

Daniel Barton Oerther is an American professor. He is best known for leadership bridging engineering and nursing to advance environmental health practice through science diplomacy. Oerther uses 16S ribosomal RNA-targeted techniques for fundamental studies of the ecology of bacteria in engineered and natural systems. He promotes transdisciplinarity among engineers, nurses, and sanitarians to improve access to clean water, nutritious food, and energy efficiency in developing communities. Oerther practices innovation in the scholarship of teaching and learning, including modified mastery learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letitia Woods Brown</span> American historian (1915–1976)

Letitia Woods Brown was an American researcher and historian. Earning a master's degree in 1935 from Ohio State University, she served as a researcher and historian for over four decades and became one of the first black women to earn a PhD in history from Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles A. Sorber</span>

Charles A. Sorber was an American civil engineer, engineering professor, and academic administrator He was born in 1939 in Kingston, Pennsylvania, US. He received a bachelor's of science degree in civil engineering in 1961 and a master's of science degree in civil engineering in 1966 at Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. degree in environmental engineering in 1971 at the University of Texas at Austin. During his lifetime Dr. Sorber served in the U.S. Army and in a number of academic, research, and administrative positions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy B. Jackson</span> American chemist (1956–2022)

Nancy Beth Jackson was an American chemist. She did energy research on heterogeneous catalysis and the development of alternative fuels. She also worked in the field of chemical nonproliferation, educating chemical professionals on the importance of safe and secure chemical practice in research, teaching and business, in an effort to prevent the misuse of chemicals as "weapons, poisons, explosives or environmental pollutants". She was the first implementer in developing the international Chemical Security Engagement Program. She was active in promoting diversity in STEM fields. She was president of the American Chemical Society in 2011, leading the organization during the International Year of Chemistry. In 2012, she was honored with the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Rittmann</span> American professor of environmental engineering

Bruce E. Rittmann is Regents' Professor of Environmental Engineering and Director of the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University. He was also elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2004 for pioneering the development of biofilm fundamentals and contributing to their widespread use in the cleanup of contaminated waters, soils, and ecosystems.

Pedro J.J. Alvarez is the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, where he also serves as Director of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Engineering Research Center on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicki Grassian</span> American chemist

Vicki H. Grassian is a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. She also holds the distinguished chair in physical chemistry.

Sue Brannon Clark is an environmental radiochemist. Since receiving her doctorate in inorganic and radiochemistry from Florida State University in 1989, Clark has worked at Washington State University where she leads a research team on the chemistry and chemical engineering of processing nuclear materials. She has also held various leadership roles at WSU, including serving as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and interim dean of the college of sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilda Barabino</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deb Niemeier</span> American civil and environmental engineer

Deb A. Niemeier is an American transportation engineer known for her work on measuring vehicle emissions and its impact on the air quality in nearby neighborhoods, on the effects of carbon dioxide on climate change, on gender differences in commuting behavior, and on the quantification of transport accessibility. She is James & Alice B. Clark Distinguished Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Christine Sharon Grant is an American chemical engineer who is the Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement at North Carolina State University. Her research considers surface and environmental science. She is the 2022 President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Alison Lewis is a South African chemical engineer known for her research in crystallisation and precipitation as applied to the recovery of valuable metals. She is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and is a member of UCT’s Senior Leadership Team. Lewis is also the founder and director of UCT’s Crystallisation and Precipitation Research Unit.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lilia Abron's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Tennant, Kristin. "Engineering Better Lives". WUSTL Magazine. Washington University in St. Louis. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Lilia A. Abron". University of Iowa College of Engineering. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Inventors & Inventions". The Indianapolis Recorder. August 28, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Jeannette Brown (November 16, 2011). "8". African American Women Chemists. Oxford University Press. pp. 143–150. ISBN   978-0-19-990961-2.
  6. 1 2 3 "Meet Our Newest Deacons". firstbaptistdc.org. First Baptist Church of the City of Washington D. C. June 10, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Abron, Lilia Ann; Osburn, James O. (March 1, 1973). "A transport mechanism in hollow nylon fiber reverse osmosis membranes for the removal of ddt and aldrin from water". Water Research. 7 (3): 461–477. doi:10.1016/0043-1354(73)90027-4. ISSN   0043-1354.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Lilia Abron | The HistoryMakers". www.thehistorymakers.com. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 "Lilia A. Abron | College of Engineering | The University of Iowa". www.engineering.uiowa.edu. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  10. ↑ "List of Activie Members by Class" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Fall 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  11. ↑ "National Academy of Engineering Elects 86 Members and 18 International Members". National Academy of Engineering. February 6, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  12. ↑ Chuma, Wallace (July 11, 2004). "A South African cause hits close to home". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  13. ↑ Moulden, Yolanda. "2012 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science™ Competition Winners". www.aaees.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  14. ↑ "About". PEER Consultants, PC. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ "PEER Consultants, P.C. Company Overview" (PDF). PEER Consultants, PC. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Our Story". PEER Consultants, PC. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  17. ↑ Johnson, Reginald (June 1, 2012). "DC will play host for World Environment Day". Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 3, 2016– via NewsBank.
  18. ↑ "19th Annual Iowa Renewable Energy Symposium and Exposition in Iowa City". Daily Iowegian. Centerville, IA. April 23, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  19. ↑ "American Academy of Arts & Sciences Inducts Class of 2004". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. October 9, 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  20. ↑ "2012 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science™ Awards Competition Winners". www.aaees.org. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.