X LINDA GRIFFITH, ‘82, RECEIVES “GENIUS AWARD” FROM THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ....................2
X TWO-GENERATION CHBE FAMILY MAKES MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL .........................................5
X RENTIAN XIONG CHOSEN AS THE FIRST CHBE STUDENT TO PARTICIPATE IN NEW INTERNATIONAL NSF PROGRAM ............8
ChBE news
SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ATLANTA, GEORGIA
FALL
VOLUME 14
2006
Pradeep Agrawal Named Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies When you meet Pradeep Agrawal, you immediately notice his charm. His genuine smile and easy-going manner are distinctive, as well as his quick wit. His proven leadership as the faculty advisor to the AIChE student chapter and his remarkable ease at interacting with students made him the natural choice to succeed F. Joseph Schork as the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. Joe retired this fall to accept the position of Chair of the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland at College Park.
office if I have a question and he is always willing to help,” Will said. An Nguyen, AIChE Vice President, agrees. He said, “Dr. Agrawal really cares about students, and that is a big deal to each of us.”
Pradeep earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Roorkee in India where he was ranked first in his graduating class of chemical engineers. Then he received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Delaware. After completing a brief post-doctoral appointment at Delaware, Pradeep came to Georgia Tech in 1979 and has been a faculty member in the School for more than 27 years, currently as an Associate Professor.
The recipient of numerous awards, Pradeep’s list of honors includes many that are reflective of his popularity among his students. He has received the W.T. Ziegler Award for the “Best Professor of the Year” seven times and the Omega Chi Epsilon “Outstanding Faculty Award” four times. His remarkable teaching skills were also recognized outside of ChBE when he was presented with the “Outstanding Professor in the College of Engineering” award by the Order of Omega in 1995 and the “W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher” award by Tech in 1996.
As the faculty advisor to the AIChE student chapter from 1988-2005, he led ChBE students and became not only their mentor but also a true friend to each of them. AIChE President Will Reed said that Pradeep still makes time for him. “Even though he is no longer our faculty advisor, I still drop by his
During the seventeen years of his leadership, the AIChE chapter emerged as one of the most active chapters in the nation. It has been recognized as an outstanding chapter 15 times and also organized two successful Southern Regional Conferences in 1991 and 2004.
In addition to teaching and conducting research in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis, modeling of chemical reaction processes, and biotechnology, Pradeep also serves as a
consultant to Milliken and Company, a role that he began in 1989. A true family man, his free time is devoted to his wife, Kanchan, and the couple’s two children. Their son, Parth, is 13 and their daughter, Monica, is 11. Both children attend a magnet program and are aspiring ChBE students!