Christine Grant ’84, Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement and Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, has been elected president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) for the 2022 term. AIChE is a professional organization of more than 60,000 members in more than 110 countries.
Serving as AIChE president is a three-year commitment; Grant will become the 2021 president-elect, will succeed Deb Grubbe as AIChE president in 2022, and become past-president in 2023. AIChE members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontier of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, hydrogen fuels, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security.
Grant, an AIChE Fellow, has served the Institute as a member of the Board of Directors, a member of the Chemical Technology Operating Council (CTOC) and the Awards and Nominating Committees, as chair of the Minority Affairs Committee and as a member of the steering committee for the Henry T. and Melinda C. Brown Endowment for the Education of Underrepresented Minority Chemical Engineers.
She is also a recipient of the Institute’s William W. Grimes Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Grimes was the first African-American Fellow of the AIChE. The award recognizes a chemical engineer’s outstanding achievements in the chemical engineering profession and as a distinguished role model for underrepresented minorities.
Outside of the Institute, Grant’s accomplishments as an educator, leader and mentor have been recognized by achievement awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the National Organization of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Council for Chemical Research, among others.
In recognition of her successes in promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers among underrepresented groups, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and President Bush honored her with the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, which is “one of the Nation’s highest honors for mentors who work with underrepresented groups to develop fully the Nation’s human resources in STEM.”
She has been a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at NC State for more than 30 years, and is currently working on an IPA assignment with the NSF. She earned her Sc.B. in chemical engineering from Brown University and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering at Georgia Tech. Her academic and research focus areas include surface and environmental science, mass transfer and biomedical cell systems.
Photo and information courtesy North Carolina State University Engineering Communications