Leadership
The Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI) thrived under the guidance and vision of its dedicated leaders. CCEI’s Directors collaborated closely to drive innovation, cultivate partnerships, and advance scientific discovery, ensuring the center’s lasting impact on sustainable energy research. Director’s affiliations were current as of December 2024.

Dion Vlachos
Director, CCEI (2009-2024)
Unidel Dan Rich Chair in Energy Professor
of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Delaware

Paul Dauenhauer
Co-Director, CCEI (2014-2024)
Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
University of Minnesota

Jingguang Chen
Co-Director, CCEI (2009-2014)
Thayer Lindsley Professor of Chemical Engineering
Columbia University
Advisory Board Members
CCEI’s success was strengthened by an esteemed Advisory Board whose foresight and guidance helped shape the center’s accomplishments. Below is a comprehensive list of members who served on the board. Affiliations listed reflect the individual’s institution at the time of their collaboration with CCEI.

Mark A. Barteau*
Texas A&M

Nazeer Bhore
ExxonMobil

William G. Borghard
Rutgers

Juben Chheda
Shell International

Avelino Corma Canós
Instituto de Tecnología Química

Robert Davis
University of Virginia

James Dumesic*
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Robert Farrauto
BASF Corporation

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos*
Tufts University

Bruce Gates*
University of California at Davis

Javier Guzman
ExxonMobil

Prasanna Joshi
ExxonMobil

Chung K. Law*
Princeton University

Angeliki Lemonidou
Univ. of Thessaloniki

Charles H.F. Peden
PNNL

Carmo Pereira
DuPont

Daniel Resasco
University of Oklahoma

Jose Rodriguez
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Lanny Schmidt*
University of Minnesota

Susannah Scott
University of Calif. – Santa Barbara

Shekar Shetty
Air Liquide

Jeffrey Siirola*
Carnegie Mellon University

Paris Tsobanakis
Cargill, Inc.

Kurt VandenBussche
UOP-A Honeywell
Principal Investigators
CCEI’s research success was driven by its principal investigators, a group of experts dedicated to advancing sustainable energy solutions. Listed below are the principal investigators who contributed to CCEI’s mission. Affiliations listed reflect the individual’s institution at the time of their collaboration with CCEI.

Omar Abdelrahman
UMass – Amherst

Scott Auerbach
UMass – Amherst

Mark A. Barteau*
Texas A&M

Aditya Bhan
University of Minnesota

Eric Bloch
University of Delaware

Anibal Boscoboinik
Stony Brook University

Douglas Buttrey
University of Delaware

Stavros Caratzoulas
University of Delaware

Jingguang Chen
Columbia University

Phillip Christopher
UC – Santa Barbara

Prodromos Daoutidis
University of Minnesota

Mark Davis
Caltech

Douglas Doren
University of Delaware

Wei Fan
UMass – Amherst

Anatoly Frenkel
Stony Brook University

Raymond Gorte
UPenn

Song-I Han
UC – Santa Barbara

George Huber
UMass – Amherst

Marianthi Ierapetritou
Rutgers / UD

Friederike Jentoft
UMass – Amherst

Feng Jiao
University of Delaware

Yan Jin
University of Delaware

Christopher Jones
Georgia Tech

Michael Klein
University of Delaware

Bruce Koel
Princeton University

Dongxia Liu
University of Maryland

Raul Lobo
University of Delaware

Giannis Mpourmpakis
University of Delaware

Christopher Murray
UPenn

Vladimiros Nikolakis
University of Delaware

Marat Orazov
University of Delaware

Basudeb Saha
University of Delaware

Stanley Sandler
University of Delaware

Susannah Scott
UC – Santa Barbara

Ilja Siepmann
University of Minnesota

Mark Synder
Lehigh University

Klaus Theopold
University of Delaware

Michael Tsapatsis
Johns Hopkins University

Ioulia Valla
University of Connecticut

John Vohs
UPenn

Lynn Walker
Carnegie Mellon

Donald Watson
University of Delaware

Bingjun Xu
University of Delaware

Yushan Yan
University of Delaware

Weiqing Zheng
University of Delaware