2021 AIChE Gala

The 2021 AIChE “Doing a World of Good” Gala recognized companies and their leaders for solving societal problems and benefitting humanity through the safe and responsible practice of chemical engineering.

We honored Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, for his and the organization's outstanding leadership towards the discovery and development of innovative solutions that are saving and improving people’s lives through healthcare.
 
The 2021 Doing a World of Good Medal was presented to our fellow founding partners of the Future of STEM Scholars Initiative (FOSSI) for their esteemed contributions to the advancement of society, honoring, Chris Jahn, President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC); Mark Vergnano, Chairman of the Board of Chemours and Ashley Christopher, Founder and CEO of HBCU Week Foundation.
 
AIChE thanks the American Chemistry Council for sponsoring the Gala dessert reception. 
 

2021 AIChE Gala Press Release 

Stay Informed about the AIChE Gala

Honoring:

Stéphane Bancel

Chief Executive Officer, Moderna

Stéphane Bancel has served as Moderna's Chief Executive Officer since October 2011 and as a member of Moderna’s board of directors since March 2011. Before joining the Company, Mr. Bancel served for five years as Chief Executive Officer of the French diagnostics company bioMérieux SA. From July...

Chris Jahn

President and Chief Executive Officer, American Chemistry Council (ACC)

Chris Jahn is President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the leading association representing the $553-billion U.S. chemicals industry.

Mark Vergnano

Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Chemours Company

Mark Vergnano serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Chemours Company. He previously served as the company’s initial President and CEO upon its spinoff from DuPont in July 2015 until July 2021.

Ashley S. Christopher

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, HBCU Week Foundation

Ashley founded HBCU Week in 2017, a company whose mission is to encourage enrollment into HBCUs, provide scholarship dollars for matriculation and maintain a pipeline of employment from undergraduate school to corporate America.  

Gala Dinner Chairs:

Jim Fitterling

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dow

Jim Fitterling is the chairman and chief executive officer of Dow, a global materials science company with 2020 sales of approximately $39 billion.

Karen McKee

President, ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company: Vice President, ExxonMobil Corporation, ExxonMobil Chemical Company

Karen McKee is President of ExxonMobil Chemical Company and Vice President, ExxonMobil Corporation based in Houston.

Lori J. Ryerkerk

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President, Celanese Corporation

Lori J. Ryerkerk is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President of Celanese Corporation, a Fortune 500 global chemical and specialty materials company based in Dallas, Texas. Celanese is a leader in the development and production of materials used in most major industrial and consumer...

John Televantos

Senior Partner, Arsenal Capital Partners

John Televantos is a Senior Partner at Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on the Specialty Industrial and Healthcare sectors.

Michael P. Thien

Senior Vice President, Merck & Co., Inc.

Dr. Thien has worked in new product and process development at Merck for over 30 years. After receiving his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Caltech (1982), an Sc.D. from MIT in biochemical engineering (1988) and a post doc at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, Mike joined the...