The U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has announced its new members for 2026. Among the new class of 130 U.S.-based and 28 international NAE members are numerous chemical engineers. The following AIChE members have been elected to NAE’s distinguished ranks.
Anne Hammons Aunins
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Engineering
Anne Hammons Aunins, Portfolio Lead, Rare Diseases, Moderna Therapeutics — “For leadership in pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing, particularly for contributions to the development of COVID-19 vaccines.”
Nitash Pervez Balsara
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Engineering
Nitash Pervez Balsara, Charles W. Tobias Professor of Electrochemistry, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley — “For elucidating the relationship between mechanical and electrical properties in block copolymer electrolytes to develop solid electrolytes for rechargeable batteries.”
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Thomas Alwin Blasingame
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Thomas Alwin Blasingame, Professor and Department Head, Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University — “For developing rate-transient tools to diagnose and predict hydrocarbon production.”
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Michael Brady
Photo courtesy of the University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division
Michael Brady, Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Oncology, The University of Oxford, U.K. — “For contributions to vision-based robotics and image-based medical diagnosis and treatment.”
Christopher Luis Burcham
Photo courtesy of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Christopher Luis Burcham, Professor of the Practice, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — “For contributions to crystallization, particle engineering, and process control to advance pharmaceutical engineering and enable new therapies to market.”
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Teresa Plumley Karjala
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Engineering
Teresa Plumley Karjala, Senior Research and Development Fellow, Packaging, Specialty Plastics, and Hydrocarbons, Dow Inc. — “For leadership in innovation in the field of polyolefin product development, production, and commercialization.”
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Michael Laird King
Photo courtesy of the University of Virginia
Michael Laird King, Professor of Practice, Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia — “For leadership in the commercialization and manufacturing, and supply of vaccines and pharmaceuticals.”
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Abraham M. Lenhoff
Photo courtesy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering
Abraham M. Lenhoff, Allan P. Colburn Professor, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware — “For contributions addressing protein-protein, protein-surface, and colloidal interactions leading to major advances in protein purification technologies.”
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John F. MacGregor
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Engineering
John F. MacGregor, President and Chief Executive Officer, ProSensus Inc. — “For innovations in multivariate data analytics for industrial process monitoring and quality control.”
Edward Joseph Maginn
Photo courtesy of Notre Dame News
Edward Joseph Maginn, Keough-Hesburgh Professor, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame — “For development and application of molecular modeling and simulation of complex systems involving slow dynamics and long-ranged interactions.”
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Kenneth Eugene Martin
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Kenneth Eugene Martin, Principal Engineer, Electric Power Group — “For development of standards for synchrophasor definition, interoperability, testing, and applications in power systems.”
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Massimo Silvio Morbidelli
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Massimo Silvio Morbidelli, visiting scholar, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece — “For end-to-end continuous processes for producing biopharmaceuticals.”
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Jeffrey F. Morris
Photo courtesy of Lehigh University
Jeffrey F. Morris, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director, Levich Institute, City College of New York — “For research on the fundamentals of concentrated suspension and hydrate slurry flows and for implementing applications in many industries.”
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Monica C. Regalbuto
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Monica C. Regalbuto, CNL Laboratory Director, Battelle Memorial Institute — “For contributions to enable safe management and disposal of high-level nuclear wastes, and to develop advanced nuclear fuel cycles.”
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Edgar Snyder Sanders Jr.
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Engineering
Edgar Snyder Sanders Jr., Head of Corporate Development and Interim Chief Technology Officer, Osmoses — “For leading the commercial impact of hollow fiber membranes for gas separations.”
Timothy Roy Snider
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Timothy Roy Snider, Director, Teck Resources Limited — “For developing and applying hydrometallurgical solvent-extraction and electrowinning extraction methods, allowing economical recovery of low-grade mineral resources.”
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Michael Paul Thien
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Michael Paul Thien, Senior Vice President, Takeda Pharmaceuticals — “For innovations in supply chain design and engineering of large-scale manufacture of drugs for treating HIV, cancer, and diabetes.”
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Israel E. Wachs
Photo courtesy of Lehigh University
Israel E. Wachs, G. Whitney Snyder Chair, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Lehigh University — “For establishing fundamental structure-activity/selectivity rules governing molecular engineering of mixed oxide catalysts.”
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Karen Irene Winey
Photo courtesy of University of Massachusetts Amherst
Karen Irene Winey, Pender Professor, Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania — “For contributions to understanding and advancing polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers.”
Younan Xia
Photo courtesy of Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering
Younan Xia, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering and Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University — “For research and leadership in the invention and rational development of advanced materials for nanomedicine and regenerative medicine.”
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Weichang Zhou
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Engineering
Weichang Zhou, Chief Technology Officer, MediLink Therapeutics — “For engineering and leadership in the field of manufacturing and development of biologics.”
Connect with Weichang on Engage.
Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer and honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, or to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. The newly elected members will be formally inducted during the NAE’s annual meeting on Oct. 4, 2026. Learn more.
This article originally appeared in the Institute News column in the April 2026 issue of CEP. Members have access online to complete issues, including a vast, searchable archive of back-issues found at www.aiche.org/cep.
