Huimin Zhao | AIChE

Huimin Zhao

Steven L. Miller Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Huimin Zhao is the Steven L. Miller Chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and professor of chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, and bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He received his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1992 and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1998 under the guidance of Dr. Frances Arnold. Prior to joining UIUC in 2000, he was a project leader at the Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory of the Dow Chemical Company. He was promoted to full professor in 2008. Dr. Zhao has authored and co-authored over 270 research articles and over 20 issued and pending patent applications with several being licensed by industry. In addition, he has given plenary, keynote or invited lectures in over 320 international meetings, universities, industries, and research institutes. Eighteen (18) of his former graduate students and postdocs became professors in the United States (7), China (8), Korea (2), and Egypt (1). Dr. Zhao received numerous research and teaching awards and honors, such as Marvin Johnson Award (2017), Charles Thom Award (2016), Elmer Gaden Award (2014), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2012), His primary research interests are in the development and applications of synthetic biology tools to address society’s most daunting challenges in health, energy, and sustainability, and in the fundamental aspects of enzyme catalysis, cell metabolism, gene regulation, and cell differentiation.