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by Gordon Ellis -
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Raj Gupta, chairman of Avantor Inc. and APTIV plc, and senior advisor at New Mountain Capital, is boosting the public profile of chemical engineers and their contributions to society with a $50,000 leadership gift to sponsor the AIChE Foundation’s Doing a World of Good Podcast Series. The podcasts, which began in 2016, feature interviews with some of the profession’s most prominent leaders and innovators, and reveal the many ways in which the work of chemical engineers improves human lives. The gift from Gupta and his wife Kamla was arranged through the couple’s Gupta Family UJALA Foundation, and will fund 20 future episodes of the online series, which will be renamed the Doing a World of Good Raj and Kamla Gupta Podcast Series.
The 2018 season of podcasts debuted in May. More interviews will premier this summer, and all the podcasts are available at www.aiche.org/giving/podcasts.
In discussing his family’s choice to sponsor the AIChE Foundation’s podcasts, Gupta explained that the chemical engineering profession has been instrumental in improving quality of life around the globe and has enabled much of the world’s progress in healthcare, water treatment, food, agriculture, energy, electronics, and more. However, he noted, “the positive impact of the industry and the people working in it are not fully appreciated. Through this podcast series, we hope to improve the perception of the industry and acknowledge the individuals who have made — and are continuing to make — a difference.”
Gupta joined New Mountain in 2009 after serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Rohm and Haas, where he held a variety of positions beginning in 1971. He is also a past chairman of the American Chemistry Council and the Society of Chemical Industry’s America Section, and has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including Hewlett Packard, Tyco International, the Vanguard Group, Arconic, and IRI. He earned a BS in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MS in operations research from Cornell Univ., and an MBA in finance from Drexel Univ. He is author of the book Eight Dollars and a Dream: My American Journey (2016), which describes how his experiences leading a chemical enterprise shaped his worldview and helped him and his company to effect global change.
More details about the Doing a World of Good Raj and Kamla Gupta Podcasts, and the many programs of the AIChE Foundation, can be found at www.aiche.org/giving.
This article originally appeared in the Institute News column in the June 2018 issue of CEP. Members have access online to complete issues, including a vast, searchable archive of back-issues found at www.aiche.org/cep.