Confirmed Presenters and Moderators
Click on name for more details. More presenters will be added as they are confirmed.
Rakesh Agrawal is the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. Previously Agrawal was Air Products Fellow at Air Products and Chemicals. The holder or coholder of 116 U.S. patents and nearly 500 non-U.S. patents, Agrawal has made many contributions to the development of gas liquefaction and cryogenic separation technologies. He also has 64 published papers in the areas of gas separations, membranes, distillation and other separation and liquefaction processes.
Agrawal has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Delaware, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’s award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology and its Separations Division’s Clarence G. Gerhold Award, and the Institute of Refrigeration’s J & E Hall Gold Medal. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2002. Agrawal holds three degrees in chemical engineering: a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur, a master’s from the University of Delaware, and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
James Alder is senior vice president, operations and technical, at Celanese. He oversees the company’s global manufacturing operations and technical activities as well as overall productivity efforts, including Six Sigma and operational excellence.
Alder joined Celanese in 1974. Prior to his current position, he held various roles in manufacturing, R&D, and business management. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jeffrey S. Beck is manager, corporate strategic research, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company. In the early 1990s his research focused on catalytic applications of zeolite catalysts. Since 2000 Beck has held various positions in both refining operations and R&D management.
Beck has received numerous awards for his work including the 1994 Donald W. Breck Award, the 2003 Thomas Alva Edison Award, the 2007 America Chemical Society Heroes of Chemistry Award, and the 2009 Eugene S. Houdry Award in Applied Catalysis. He holds 59 U.S. patents and has published nearly 50 scientific articles. Beck received a B.S. in chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1984 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989.
Eric J. Beckman Please check back soon for biographical information.
Leonard J. Buckley is manager of the Materials Chemistry Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory, where he directs and manages research scientists and engineers performing innovative R&D in chemistry and physics for the U.S. Department of Defense. Buckley has championed efforts in bio-inspired optics, self-decontaminating and self-cleaning surfaces, chemical sensing, high-temperature polymers, and photovoltaic paints. He has also provided technical expertise and analysis for the Smithsonian Institution on the restoration of the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired the American national anthem.
Buckley has authored more than 150 publications and reports and holds 9 patents. Buckley’s awards and honors include a Navy-sponsored Award for Scientific Achievement, an Alan Berman Outstanding Publication Award from the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service. He earned a bachelor’s degree in materials engineering from Drexel University. He holds a master’s degree in polymer science and a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Arthur Daemmrich is an assistant professor at Harvard Business School in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit and a member of the interdisciplinary HBS Healthcare Initiative. His work compares internationally the regulation of science-based industries, with a particular emphasis on risk management and the interplay of changing scientific knowledge with business practices in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors.
Daemmrich has published on pharmaceutical and chemical regulation, biotechnology policy and politics, and science and technology policy, including one authored and three edited books as well as numerous articles in scholarly, trade, and policy journals. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Joseph DeSimone is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and director of the Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience, and Technology at the University of North Carolina. He is also director of the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes. In addition DeSimone serves as a professor of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University.
Cofounder of MICELL Technologies and Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions, DeSimone is listed as inventor on 83 patents. He has authored or contributed to over 180 publications. DeSimone’s numerous awards include the Wallace H. Carothers Award, the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology Award, and the Esselen Award. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from Ursinus College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Ryan R. Dirkx is the vice president of R&D at Arkema. A 20-year veteran of Arkema and its predecessor companies, Dirkx has directed global R&D organizations for several Arkema businesses, most recently those within the Technical Polymers and Altuglas International divisions. He has also held business and market management positions within the Specialty Chemicals Division.
Dirkx has a Ph.D. in solid state science from the Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in ceramic engineering from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He holds a number of patents worldwide, and he is active within the Industrial Research Institute.
Susan Fitzwater is a senior research fellow at Rohm and Haas Company. Her specialty is mathematical modeling of chemistry, physical properties, and chemical processes. Other areas of interest and expertise include chemistry of radical polymerization, polymer solubility and miscibility, light scattering by small particles, optical properties, and color.
Fitzwater received a B.A. in chemistry from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from The University of Michigan.
William Fraser is senior director of global technology alliances for The Dow Chemical Company’s Core R&D operations. He joined Dow in 2001 through the Dow–Union Carbide merger. At Union Carbide Fraser was executive vice president of R&D and engineering for Univation Technologies, a joint venture with ExxonMobil Chemicals. Univation Technologies serves as a discovery, development, and licensing company for world-scale polyethylene manufacturing.
Fraser was involved with Carbide’s development of UNIPOL Process Technology for linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and the launch and building of the UNIPOL licensing franchise and the commercialization of LLDPE film technology. In Carbide’s silicones business, he led R&D efforts in the leveraging of Si technologies in plastics applications and directed a business initiative in plastics additives systems. Fraser earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University.
Bill Greggs Bill Greggs recently retired as an associate director in the Global Sustainability organization at Procter and Gamble (P&G). Since 1990, he has had leadership responsibility in External Relations. Prior to that he held a number of line and staff positions in P&G’s Paper Manufacturing operations.
Greggs has participated in many chemistry- and sustainability-related projects, including the California Green Chemistry Program and Wal-Mart’s Chemically Intensive Products Network. He was a member of the National Pollution Prevention and Toxics Advisory Committee’s Stakeholder Advisory Panel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Greggs was also the chair of the Soap and Detergent Association’s High Production Volume Chemical Task Force, a member of the American Chemistry Council’s Health, Product and Science Policy Team, and chair of the American Chemistry Council’s Product Stewardship Team. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Lafayette College.
Catherine T. Hunt Please check back soon for biographical information.
Gary Kozerski is a research chemist in the Health and Environmental Sciences department at Dow Corning Corporation, where he began his career in 1996. In his current role he is responsible for the conduct of research related to the environmental chemistry and fate of organosilicon materials. His research interests include the kinetics and mechanisms of degradation of these materials in environmental matrices and the development of methods to measure and predict their partitioning properties.
Kozerski has twice been the recipient of a peer-selected Dow Corning Technical Achievement Award recognizing technical excellence, creativity, and innovation. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He earned a B.A. in chemistry from Western Michigan University and an M.S. in chemistry from John Carroll University.
Yuguo Ma is vice dean of the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University. His research interests include supramolecular chemistry, molecular recognition and self-assembly, organic functional materials based on dendrimers, organometallic chemistry, and catalytic polymerization of olefins.
Ma received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of Chemistry at Peking University. He received a Ph.D. in organic/polymer chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
D. Tyler McQuade is an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Florida State University, where he leads a team of researchers striving to create more efficient chemistry using multicatalyst systems.
McQuade’s honors include the Dreyfus, 3M, Rohm and Haas, Beckman, and NYSTAR young investigator awards. In 2004 he was selected as one of 100 remarkable innovators under the age of 35 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technology Review. McQuade received a B.S. in chemistry and a B.S. in biology from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Scott A. Mobley is a research fellow at The Clorox Company. He has split his professional career between the consumer products and agricultural chemicals industries. His training and experience with biological systems, both ecological and human, has led to his current responsibilities, which include helping ensure that sustainable principles, practices, and chemistry are incorporated into the development of Clorox products.
Mobley has represented Clorox on the Walmart Chemical Intensive Products Network since its inception in 2005, and he is part of the stakeholder teams that Walmart has assembled to advise on the development of their product and company scorecards. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology.
Nick Pugliano Please check back soon for biographical information.
Alan S. Rudolph Please check back soon for biographical information.
Thomas Upton is manager of research for ExxonMobil Chemical Company. In this position he is responsible for new technology development, including breakthrough research, for each of the company’s eleven businesses. Upton was part of the technical staff in the Exxon Research and Engineering Corporate Research Sciences Laboratory from 1980 to 1991. His research was on catalysis by metal surfaces and small particles, and he published more than 40 papers in this area.
From 1991 to 1996 Upton was North American product development Manager for aviation and distillate fuels and motor gasoline. In 1996 he became downstream laboratory director and led longer-range research in fuels, lubes, and refinery processes. In 1999 he moved to Exxon Chemical Company, where he was technology planning manager and butyl technology manager. Upton obtained a B.S. in chemistry from Stanford and a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.
Rao Varanasi Please check back soon for biographical information.
Anne Wallin is the director of sustainable chemistry for The Dow Chemical Company. In this role, she leads the 2015 Sustainable Chemistry Goal project team, which is integrating sustainable chemistry across all disciplines, functions, and businesses in Dow. She also leads the company’s Life Cycle Assessment Expert Group. Wallin began her career at Dow in R&D as a process chemist in the Agricultural Chemicals department. After several years, she moved to Environment, Health, and Safety, where she held a variety of roles in both R&D and manufacturing. She joined Dow Public Affairs in 1999.
A coauthor of several publications and patents, Wallin is a member of the External Advisory Board for the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute at the University of Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Carleton College and a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Zhengang Xu is a research professor and the director of the Beijing Research Institute of Coal Chemistry, China Coal Research Institute. In this position he is in charge of engineering R&D and technical consultation of clean coal technologies such as coal gasification and poly-generation of fuels, power, and chemical products.
Xu received a Ph.D. in chemical technology from the China Coal Research Institute. His area of academic specialization is coal chemistry and coal conversion.
