Board of Directors voting dates and deadlines:
AIChE’s Nominating Committee has announced the slate of candidates for president-elect, and four director positions for the 2026 AIChE Board.
The president-elect will be elected to a three-year term, serving one year each as president-elect, president, and past president. The directors are elected for three-year terms.
Voting by electronic proxy ballot will begin on Sept. 3 and end on Oct. 8. The election results will be announced at the Annual Business Meeting in Boston, MA.
2025 Election Timeline
- May 12: Petition candidate cut-off date
- Sept. 3: Election commences
- Oct. 8: Election ballot receipt deadline
- Nov. 3: Election results announced at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Boston, MA
2025 Election Slate for the 2026 Board of Directors
Positions
For President Elect
Brian H. Davison
Brian H. Davison is Corporate Fellow and Chief Scientist for Biotechnology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). A Fellow of AIChE, the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB), and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), his honors include an R&D100 Award, SIMB’s C.D. Scott Award, and multiple ORNL awards for science communication, technology transfer, and inventions.
He served on AIChE’s Board of Directors (2020–2022), on the Society for Biological Engineering (SBE) Board since 2012, and is a Trustee of the AIChE Foundation since 2023. Brian co-founded SBE’s Commercializing Industrial Biotechnology workshop and contributed to multiple roadmaps for the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE).
He was the Chief Science Officer of DOE’s Center for Bioenergy Innovation, and the previous BioEnergy Science Center. A longtime advocate for inclusion, he founded ORNL’s LGBTQ+ employee group in 1995 and participated in establishing AIChE communities including LGBTQ+Allies. With the Creative Discovery Museum, he championed public bioenergy education reaching over 350,000 people since 2009. Brian earned his BS from the Univ. of Rochester and his PhD from Caltech, both in chemical engineering.
Statement
Chemical engineering is not just what we study — it’s what we do to solve global challenges. Across academia, industry, and government, we rely on collaboration, communication, and leadership to turn discoveries into impact. AIChE has been my professional home for over 40 years because it embodies these values. Our collective challenge is to show the broad value of chemical engineering to our members, to the public, and to future ChemEs.
My vision aligns with AIChE’s strategic plan: expanding lifelong learning, strengthening communities, and advancing our IDEAL path. I will champion our sections, divisions, and entities like SBE to strategically develop new content and meetings around emerging challenges. In this, I will support improved modes of mentoring new leaders in best practices for conferences. I’ll promote professional development by mentoring leaders, showcasing achievements, and growing AIChE’s informal and formal learning platforms. To inspire the next generation, I will amplify our outreach efforts like Bee a Chem-E as a way to strengthen student chapters and local sections.
My father was an engineer, but my mother was a journalist. From her, I learned the value of clear communication as a skill. By emphasizing communication and community, we expand our profession’s innovation and societal impact. AIChE is healthy and poised for even greater growth in membership and relevance. As a collaborative leader, I pledge to work with you to build an even stronger future for all chemical engineers.
Connect with me at: bhdcheme@gmail.com.
Lori T. McDowell
Lori McDowell, PhD, is a Fellow of AIChE, Past Chair of AIChE’s Fellows Council and the Fuels and Petrochemical Div., and a chemical engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the refining and petrochemical industries. She currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer at Refinery Calculator, Inc., an energy data company, where she leads the sales team.
She is the founder of Reimagine U Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm where she helps high-achieving STEM professionals — primarily women — gain clarity, confidence, and alignment in their careers and lives. A dynamic speaker, award-winning author, and mindset expert, Lori is known for her ability to bridge technical excellence with personal fulfillment. Lori also hosts transformation retreats, where she combines SCUBA and mindset. Her purpose is to help everyone achieve an extraordinary life. When Lori is not working, she enjoys travel, outdoor activities, and watching her son, Hunter, play college baseball.
Statement
It’s an extraordinary time to be a chemical engineer. Our profession is at the forefront of innovation — advancing hydrogen technologies, decarbonization, and sustainable solutions for energy, food, and water. At the same time, we’re called to engage more deeply in the human side of our profession: politics and human rights, IDEAL (inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, learning), and the evolving needs of a diverse global workforce.
AIChE has been foundational in my journey — from industry to entrepreneurship, and from technical problem solver to mindset and leadership coach. Since leaving corporate, I founded Reimagine U Strategies, where I guide high-achieving STEM professionals — especially women — in aligning their success with purpose and fulfillment. I also work as Chief Commercial Officer at Refinery Calc.
As President, my goal is to lead AIChE to: expand lifelong learning with relevant, forward-thinking resources; strengthen communities that reflect our profession’s breadth and diversity; foster environments where inclusion, innovation, and well-being thrive; and leverage our collective knowledge to address pressing societal and environmental challenges.
I believe in collaborative leadership — bringing together voices across disciplines, generations, and experiences. Together, we can lead toward a more connected, inclusive, and impactful future for AIChE and the profession.
Throughout my career, I have held leadership roles spanning R&D, technical services, and business development. I am a passionate advocate for equity, inclusion, and community-building within the engineering profession and I believe that the future of chemical engineering is both innovative and human-centered. As President, I am committed to supporting that vision through mentorship, connection, and purpose-driven leadership.
I would love to hear your thoughts on these important issues. Please email me at lmcdowell@reimagineu.net.
For Director
Harold T. Conner Jr.
Harold Conner has been active in AIChE since he graduated from the Univ. of Tennessee in 1968. He has been actively engaged in the local sections of the Central Savannah River Area and Knoxville-Oak Ridge since the early 1970s. He has served AIChE for 26 years, most recently as Chair of the Management Div. in 2024 and Past Chair in 2025. Conner became a Fellow of AIChE in 2018 and received the AIChE Management Div. Award in 2022.
In 1964, he became the first Black cooperative engineering student in the Univ. of Tennessee System, and in 1968 he was the first Black student to graduate with a BS in chemical engineering from the Univ. of Tennessee. He earned his MS in chemical engineering in 1978 from the Univ. of Tennessee and his PhD in industrial and systems engineering from the Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville in 2013. He is a registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) in South Carolina and Tennessee.
Conner has six decades of experience with the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration, working on multiple nuclear projects across various DOE sites. His roles have included Site Manager at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site; Executive Vice President for all three Uranium Gaseous Diffusion Plants located in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio; Nuclear Facility Restart Manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex; Chief Operations Officer at both the Idaho National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site; Associate Laboratory Director at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Nuclear Facilities Operations and Engineering Manager at UCOR in Oak Ridge, TN.
He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, Alumni Professional Achievement Award; the Muddy Boot Award for meritorious service to the Oak Ridge community; the AIChE Management Div. Award; the Local Excellence Award from the American Museum of Science and Energy; and the DOE’s Secretary of Energy Award of Achievement.
Statement
I will promote AIChE’s strategic directives. I will expand AIChE’s process safety initiative by providing new insights and methods in the deactivation and decommissioning of nuclear legacy facilities. As Director, I will improve the Management Div.’s collaboration with AIChE’s Early Career Community (ECC), AIChE Academy, and the Science History Institute. I will expand the Management Div.’s Leadership and Management emphasis by providing a webinar on the Leadership Traits of Successful Companies. These include challenging the status quo, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, modeling the way, and encouraging the heart. My passion will be to work with academic institutions, student chapters, and local sections to promote mentoring, coaching, and counseling — through lectures, workshops, internships, cooperative engineering opportunities, and professional development and practice curriculums.
Dan Coombs
Dan Coombs, P.E., has 46 years of industry experience. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for PureCycle Technologies (PCT-Nasdaq). He formerly served as an Executive Vice President for LyondellBasell, leading global manufacturing, projects, and businesses. He also served as a Senior Vice President at Chevron Phillips Chemical and Deputy General Manager of Qatar Chemical.
Dan is a Trustee of the AIChE Foundation, and Chairperson of the Foundation’s Corporate Council. Dan and his wife Ellen Coombs were AIChE Philanthropists of the Year in 2021, recognized for supporting STEM education. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of The Ohio State Univ. and received the College of Engineering Dean’s Meritorious Service to Students Award. He currently serves on The Ohio State Univ. Foundation Board and the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Advisory Board.
Dan Coombs has chemical engineering degrees from The Ohio State Univ. (BS) and the Univ. of Tulsa (MS), and he earned an MBA from Texas A&M.
Statement
I have three passions that I will advance if elected to the AIChE Board. First, we need to attract and retain more talent and improve diversity within our profession. Second, we need to further advance progress made in process safety. And third, we need to innovate and solve the profound problems that we face, including climate change, circularity, clean air, water, food, medicine, transportation, and quality of life.
For talent attraction, we need to start earlier. I personally supported the Bee and ChemE program piloted by The Ohio State Univ. students in 2021, which has grown to ten universities and four companies. We need to continue to advance these programs where chemical engineering students and early career professionals interact with and excite diverse talent in grade and middle schools. We also need to advance our early career professional development programs to better retain our incoming talent.
The AIChE Foundation’s Doing a World of Good Campaign began with a focus on process safety. We now have great process safety management (PSM) materials, training, and certification processes for students, professors, and practicing engineers, but we can do more. I would like to see us extend our PSM training and certification to hourly operators, craftspeople, and to instructors at two-year institutions. We should also expand the Center for Chemical Process Safety’s (CCPS’s) membership and share our PSM knowledge more effectively with non-members.
Finally, I support a focus on innovation. Chemical engineers are “problem solvers,” and innovation is the key to our future. Chemical engineers will need to harness the great advances to come into real world solutions at scale for commercial succes.
Rob Crane
Rob Crane is the Technology Scouting and Venturing Lead for ExxonMobil, where he has spent 28 years advancing high-impact technologies from concept to commercialization. His leadership roles have spanned research, engineering, manufacturing, new business development, and strategy. Rob holds a BS in chemical engineering from Cornell and a PhD from Purdue. He has 17 granted U.S. patents. Two of his inventions led to commercialized processes and his leadership contributed to multiple others.
Rob is a past chair of Purdue’s Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board and a recipient of Purdue’s Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award. He has served as President of the Board of Directors of United Way of Hunterdon County, NJ, and he has developed research partnerships globally, serving on boards including CISTAR and EPIXC. Rob is passionate about mentoring and inspiring the next generation of chemical engineers through seminars, guest lectures, and professional relationships around the world. He is also a former Ironman competitor and an active sponsor of ExxonMobil’s employee resource communities.
Statement
I believe that chemical engineers have an increasingly important role in addressing many of the world’s pressing needs. I am passionate about making an impact at scale through technology, and elevating opportunities for people in our profession. I bring extensive leadership experience to shape and advance the goals of AIChE, and to enable members of our profession to tackle important societal challenges such as energy and the environment.
Chemical engineers are skilled problem solvers, which was my primary attraction to the field. Our skills are broadly applicable, spanning from agriculture to zeolites. As the world’s needs evolve, we must adapt to new opportunities, fostering capabilities and partnerships grounded in our fundamental skills. Throughout my career, I have adapted my own chemical engineering expertise from catalysis discovery in the lab to manufacturing leadership, strategy, and new business creation across various sectors, including refining, basic chemicals, polymers, advanced recycling, new materials, and lower-carbon solutions. I have also enabled professional development and growth of many others, having had direct responsibility for career development of hundreds of engineers and scientists.
I am excited to bring my industrial experience to AIChE, focusing on areas such as RAPID, process safety, technical programming, learning, and mentoring. I am especially excited to bridge gaps between academia and industry for effective R&D and preparing students for their careers. I look forward to working with my colleagues to lead AIChE and “do a world of good.”
Please connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rob-crane-technology/.
Gayle J. Gibson
Gayle J. Gibson is currently a Senior Fellow with Mission Possible Partnership. She served on the Board of Carbon Engineering and has been consulting since retiring as Head of Engineering at DuPont, where her career spanned 34 years. Her experience at DuPont included six years as Chief of Staff to the company’s CEO/Chair.
GGayle has broad expertise in product and process development, scale-up and commercialization, the revamp of innovation practices, business strategy, supply chain improvement, lean manufacturing, research and development, and fostering inclusive workplacess.
She is an AIChE Fellow and co-chair of the AIChE Foundation’s Grants Committee. Gayle received the Management Div. Award and is former Chair of the Public Affairs and Information Committee (PAIC). She is a member of AIChE’s LGBTQ+ & Allies Community and one of AIChE’s representatives on the Affiliate Council of the Science History Institute.
Statement
It would be my honor to serve you, the members of AIChE, on AIChE’s Board of Directors. I have experience serving as a director for two companies, and have held a variety of volunteer leadership positions within AIChE. I understand the role of a Board and how important it is to represent YOU, as members of the Institute.
Beyond my experience, I bring passion — for the profession, for the Institute, and for the tremendous opportunity we all have to impact the world in immeasurable ways. The world is changing quickly with new technology advancements, entrepreneurial businesses, and innovative, connected people. As chemical engineers, we have the skills to see the overall system and our Institute brings us together to help address challenges and seize opportunities. These include our leadership in process safety, process intensification that enables more options in supply chains, the sharing of expertise on hydrogen safety and technology, and more. While the Institute is doing a lot, is it doing enough of what is needed in this changing world?
As a Director, I will work to improve communication about AIChE’s priorities and plans so that you, the members, can engage and can help shape our profession for these times. This would include:
- More tools to help us attract talent to chemical engineering.
- Increasing offerings to help us up-skill for today’s needs; and
- Specific measurable plans and progress toward IDEAL.
AIChE is YOUR Institute and the home of our profession. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on the priorities, challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Email me at gibeck@comcast.net .
JoAnn Slama Lighty
JoAnn S. Lighty has been a member of AIChE for 40+ years, starting as secretary of the Univ. of Utah (UU) student chapter. Her AIChE service includes being an Environmental Div. Director, Annual Meeting co-chair, and member and Chair of the Executive Board of the Program Committee (EBPC) and the Chemical Engineering Technology Operating Council (CTOC). She joined the UU faculty in 1988. After serving as Associate Dean and Chair, in 2014 she became the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division Director of Chemical, Bioengineering, and Environmental Transport. In 2017, Boise State Univ. selected her to be Dean of Engineering. In January 2025, she was appointed a Special Assistant to the Provost and is Acting Chair of the Chemistry Dept. She has received the AIChE Environmental Div.’s Lawrence K. Cecil Award and is a Fellow of AIChE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Statement
Throughout my 40+ years as a chemical engineer, I have seen the critical contributions of chemical engineering to industry, government, and academia. As we encounter new challenges, e.g., changing student demographics and opportunities in recent technologies such as AI, we must continue to meet the needs of multiple constituents in a broad array of areas. If elected, I will bring to the Board my leadership experiences at AIChE, NSF, and as Dean, which have prepared me to navigate these environments.
Specifically, I will:
- Be a champion of new initiatives or processes to ensure the success of all members. For example, in EBPC, I led the development process to introduce new topical conferences and sunset others, keeping content current and integrated. If elected, I will work to find these “solutions” to continue to use AIChE’s programs to innovate, advance, and utilize chemical engineering to address societal issues.
- Be a strong advocate of IDEAL. In addition to my academic activities (obtaining several awards for my work), I was involved in an AIChE task force for inclusive practices in divisions and forums. I believe we are at the forefront of action. If elected, I will continue and expand the critical work to ensure that our activities reflect our IDEAL principles.
- Continue to advance communication across AIChE and its members. Communication is key in a large organization spanning different audiences and ages. If elected, I will remain diligent in assuring effective communication avenues.
I am honored to be nominated to the Board, and I look forward to working with the Board “to inspire a … community Doing a World of Good.”
Ah-Hyung "Alissa" Park
Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park is the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of the Samueli School of Engineering and a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Univ. of California, Los Angeles. Before joining UCLA in 2023, she was the Lenfest Earth Institute Professor of Climate Change at Columbia Univ., where she also served as Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy. Park’s honors include the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award, the Engineers’ Council’s Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, the AIChE Particle Technology Forum’s (PTF) Shell Thomas Baron Award, and an NSF CAREER Award. She served in AIChE’s Chemical Engineering Technology and Societal Impact operating councils, and was a longtime executive committee member of the PTF, serving in roles including the Group 3B Chair. Park is a Fellow of AIChE, the American Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She earned her BS and MS from the Univ. of British Columbia (1998, 2000), and her PhD from The Ohio State Univ. (2005), all in chemical engineering.
Statement
The role of engineers in society has changed over the last few decades, shifting from a narrow view of specific problem-solving and definition, to a broader view of defining the world around us with societal impacts through scale. The technologies we have developed not only solve problems but also change the way people live, learn, and connect with each other and the world. Society has evolved far beyond our imagination because of new technologies, creating new opportunities as well as challenges. A great example is AI and machine learning (ML), which has a cross-cutting impact across sectors. Further, as new tools become accessible, technology development and chemical engineering education are rapidly changing. Chemical engineers will play a key role in this exciting new world of technology by advancing science and engineering while keeping the Earth in balance. This large task of technology translation to commerce, enabled by the intersection of academic and industrial interests and resources, is exciting to participate in, and I look forward to supporting this intersection within AIChE.
I have had opportunities to work with highly interdisciplinary research and educational teams to develop carbon capture and conversion technologies, as well as a sustainable energy curriculum. Some of those efforts were in collaboration with AIChE. If elected to the Board of Directors, I will help AIChE to lead global efforts in chemical and related engineering research and education by building new partnerships and initiatives focusing on the sustainable future based on emerging technologies.
Jim Pfaendtner
Jim Pfaendtner is the Louis Martin-Vega Dean of Engineering and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State Univ. Previously, he was Chair of Chemical Engineering at the Univ. of Washington (UW). He earned his PhD from Northwestern Univ. and a BS from Georgia Tech, both in chemical engineering. From 2016–2022, he led an NSF graduate training program at the intersection of molecular engineering and data science. Jim has received numerous honors, including an NSF CAREER Award (2012), the UW Distinguished Teaching Award (2013), and the Impact Award (2022) from AIChE’s Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum (CoMSEF). He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2025) and a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences (2023). His research focuses on computational molecular science, particularly machine learning and AI for molecular design, which he has documented in more than 150 publications.
Statement
My AIChE service began as an assistant professor chairing sessions and serving as 2013–2015 Programming Chair for the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Div. I later held other leadership roles in CoMSEF, culminating as 2019–2021 Forum Chair. During this time, I helped launch the AIChE topical conference on Applications of Data Science to Molecules and Materials, which continues to thrive. For these contributions, I was honored with the 2023 AIChE Herb Epstein Award for Technical Programming. Additionally, I serve on the Board of Trustees for the Computer Aides in Chemical Engineering (CAChE) Corp. and chaired the 2024 CAChE/AIChE Foundations of Molecular Modeling and Simulation Conference. Contributing to AIChE has been a privilege.
Supporting the future of our profession requires attention, care, and strategic thought. We face critical global challenges in energy, sustainability, and health, among many more, demanding the expertise of chemical engineers. At the same time, the value of STEM degrees is under scrutiny, requiring public advocacy from technical leaders in higher education, government, and corporate sectors. It is more important than ever that our professional societies are bold, visible leaders in advancing engineering. If elected to the AIChE Board of Directors, I will: champion the continued advancement of our profession by supporting technical education and conferences; lead digital transformation efforts, ensuring that AIChE is at the forefront of ML/AI and related technologies; and advocate tirelessly for chemical engineers, strengthening public support for our field.
AIChE is the flagship professional society for our profession and is poised for even more impact and success. It would be an honor to serve on the Board and to help drive our profession forward.
Cristina Thomas
Cristina Urdaneta Thomas is an accomplished leader with over 35 years of experience in R&D across the oil, chemical, and materials industries. Holding a PhD in chemical engineering from UMass Amherst, she has excelled in high-performance computing, polymer science, product development, and organizational leadership. Cristina has driven innovation at MARAVEN, IBM, and 3M, where she commercialized cutting-edge solutions for industries ranging from traffic safety to workers safety, and earned more than 28 patents. At 3M, she held leadership roles in strategy, commercialization, and materials modeling.
A recipient of prestigious awards like the 2023 American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Stanley C. Israel Award and the 2019 AIChE Industry Leadership Award, she is also a Fellow of AIChE as well as ACS and its Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Div. She is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Passionate about STEM and diversity, Cristina serves on multiple nonprofit boards. She enjoys traveling and cherishing moments with her family and dog.
Statement
It is truly an exciting time to be a chemical engineer. With our expertise and dedication, we have the power to drive meaningful solutions to society’s most pressing challenges in resource availability, healthcare, food, water, and energy. As members of AIChE, we proudly innovate and unite our diverse talents to create a sustainable and equitable future.
Over my productive, enjoyable career in R&D across the oil, chemical, and materials industries, I have experienced firsthand how chemical engineering transforms lives. From leading computational-materials modeling to commercializing innovative products at 3M, I have learned the importance of teamwork, perseverance, and impactful solutions. My leadership roles within AIChE — including serving in the Women in Chemical Engineering (WIC) Community, on the Public Affairs and Information Committee, in the Management Div., and as the 2023 Spring Meeting Programming Chair — have strengthened my passion for fostering connections and championing innovation and inclusion.
Today, our profession faces critical challenges: climate change, attracting and retaining talent, navigating digital transformation, and preparing future generations of engineers. I believe that AIChE’s strategic plan provides the essential framework to empower our members and support their professional development.
If elected to the Board of Directors, I will advocate for initiatives that inspire chemical engineers at all career stages, amplify AIChE’s role as the global leader in our profession, and strengthen collaboration to drive progress. Together, we can ensure that chemical engineering continues to lead in solving humanity’s greatest challenges. I am ready to serve and work alongside you to create a thriving future.