The rank of Fellow is AIChE’s highest grade of membership and is achieved only through election by the Board of Directors. Candidates for AIChE Fellow are nominated by their peers and must have significant chemical engineering experience (generally 25 years), have demonstrated significant service to the profession, and have been a member of AIChE for at least 10 years. Here are some of the recently elected Fellows. More Fellows will be introduced in future blogposts.
Roland Faller
Roland Faller, PhD, is the Dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. He earned a doctorate in physics from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Prior to his current role, he served as the Joe and Essie Smith Endowed Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on molecular modeling, with applications spanning soft matter, polymers, and multiscale simulation. Faller has authored more than 160 publications and holds one patent. His honors include a U.S. Dept. of Energy Early Career Principal Investigator Award. An active member of AIChE, he served on the Institute’s awards committee from 2019 to 2023.
Hugh R. James
Hugh R. James, PhD, P.E., is President of Project Commercialization Group Inc., where he provides interim executive leadership and strategic advisory services across the global energy and infrastructure sectors. He earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and BS and ME degrees in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University. Over a career spanning more than five decades, James has led major initiatives in oil and gas, power generation, and mining across four continents. He has held senior executive roles, including CEO of Tethyan Copper Company, and leadership positions with Tenneco Energy/El Paso Energy and Brown & Root. His accomplishments include founding and growing an Australian energy company to multibillion-dollar scale and advancing early coal seam methane commercialization. An AIChE Director from 2023 to 2025, he is a registered Professional Engineer and longtime member of the Institute.
Jianzhong Wu
Jianzhong Wu, PhD, is a profe
ssor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California, Riverside, with joint appointments in bioengineering, materials science and engineering, and mathematics. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, following MS and BS degrees from Tsinghua University. His research focuses on classical density functional theory, molecular modeling, and statistical thermodynamics, with applications to inhomogeneous fluids, electrolytes, and soft materials. Wu was a Consulting Editor for the AIChE Journal and Associate Chief Editor of the Chinese Chemical Engineering Journal, and has organized numerous international conferences and workshops. He is also the author of the graduate-level textbook Fundamentals and Practice in Statistical Thermodynamics.
Robert P. Hesketh
Robert P. Hesketh, PhD, is a professor of chemical
engineering at Rowan University, where he has served on the faculty since 2000 and previously as department chair. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge. Hesketh is internationally recognized for his contributions to chemical engineering education, particularly the development of hands-on, experiential learning approaches. His research spans green engineering, separations, reaction engineering, and process systems, and he has authored more than 230 publications. Hesketh has been deeply engaged in AIChE, serving as Program Chair of the North American Mixing Forum, a member of the Executive Board Programming Committee, and a founding contributor to the Chem-E-Car Competition.
Tamara Floyd Smith
Tamara Floyd Smith, 
PhD, is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Chemical Engineering at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. She previously served as Dean of the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences and held academic leadership roles at Tuskegee University, including Associate Provost. She earned her BS in chemical engineering from Tuskegee University and her MS and PhD in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research spans microfluidics, materials processing, and engineering education, and she has authored more than 100 publications and holds two U.S. patents. Floyd Smith has been an active contributor to AIChE, serving as an ABET Commissioner and program evaluator, a member of the Education and Accreditation Committee, and on the Chemical Engineering Education Publications Board.
This article originally appeared in the Institute News column in the May 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.
