AIChE’s Nominating Committee has announced the slate of candidates for president-elect and for four director positions for the 2027 AIChE Board.
The president-elect will be elected to a three-year term, serving one year each as president-elect, president, and past president. The directors are elected for three-year terms.
Important dates
Voting by electronic proxy ballot will begin on Sept. 8 and end on Oct. 13. In 2025, AIChE ceased using mail-in paper ballots for the Board of Directors election; all voting is now conducted electronically.
The election results will be announced at the 2026 AIChE Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
2026 Election timeline
May 15: Petition candidate cut-off date
Sept. 8: Election commences
Oct. 13: Election ballot receipt deadline
Nov. 9: Election results announced at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN
Election slate for the 2027 Board of Directors
President Elect
David J. Dixon
David J. Dixon is a Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and an AIChE Fellow. He served on AIChE’s Board of Directors from 2022–2024 and has held leadership roles with CEOC, the Student Chapters Committee, Chem-E-Car, and the National Program Committee. His career also includes work at Dow Corning and service as a U.S. Army captain. His research spans separations, water remediation, biofuels, biosensors, and solar energy. He holds degrees from SDSMT and a PhD in chemical engineering from UT Austin.
Rosemarie D. Wesson
Rosemarie (Rose) D. Wesson, PhD, P.E., is Associate Vice Chancellor and University Vice Provost for Research at the City University of New York, where she leads research strategy, innovation, and faculty development. Her career includes senior roles at the National Science Foundation, Dow Chemical Company, and Louisiana State University. At AIChE, she has served as Treasurer, a member of the Board of Directors, and a Trustee of the AIChE Foundation. She is an AIChE and AAAS Fellow and a recipient of AIChE’s Minority Affairs Committee Eminent Chemical Engineers Award.
Treasurer
Jean Tom
Jean Tom is Professor of the Practice in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University. She joined academia after a 38-year pharmaceutical industry career at Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck, where she worked on process development for small-molecule drug candidates. At AIChE, she serves on the Board of Directors, is involved with the PD2M Forum and CEOC, and previously chaired CTOC. She holds degrees from MIT and a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University.
Concetta La Marca
Concetta La Marca is Senior Principal Consultant in Reaction Engineering at Chemours, with more than 30 years of experience developing chemical processes and sustainable technologies. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2025, she is recognized for advancing low-global-warming refrigerants. An AIChE Fellow, she serves on AIChE’s Board of Directors and has held leadership roles with the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division for more than 20 years. She is also President of ISCRE, Inc., and previously taught at Rowan University. She holds degrees from MIT and the University of Delaware.
Director
Shawn Feist
Shawn Feist is Senior Global R&D Director at Dow, where he has led engineering, research, and new business development activities for more than 20 years. An active AIChE member, he has served as Chair of the Career and Education Operating Council and the Process Development Symposium and received the 2023 AIChE Management Award. He also supports local section programming as a Director. Feist holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota and serves on advisory boards at the University of Minnesota and Georgia Tech.
Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe is a Principal Engineer in Process Development at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, where he works on the development, scale-up, and tech transfer of protein biotherapeutics. He has been active in AIChE since his undergraduate years, with leadership roles in the Executive Student Committee, YPC, CEOC, and PD2M. He received a 2023 AIChE 35 Under 35 Award in Leadership and has served as CEOC Chair, a PD2M Track Chair, and Co-Meeting Program Chair for the 2025 AIChE Annual Meeting. He holds degrees from UMass Amherst and Rutgers University.
Frank van Lier
Frank van Lier retired in 2022 as Senior Director of Global Process Technology at The Lubrizol Corporation after more than 40 years in R&D, operations, and technology leadership. In 2025, he became Interim Executive Director of the RAPID Manufacturing Institute. An AIChE Fellow and member since 1980, he has served on RAPID’s Governing Board, chaired CTOC, and held leadership roles in AIChE’s Management Division. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.
Ben Freireich
Ben Freireich is an R&D leader with experience in industrial research, technology commercialization, and engineering leadership, including roles at Dow, PSRI, and Origin Materials. A particle technology expert, he has contributed to Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook and presented extensively through AIChE. He currently serves as Second Vice Chair of AIChE’s Chemical Engineering Technology Operating Council and Programming Chair of the Particle Technology Forum. He previously chaired the Frontiers in Particle Science and Technology Conference and received the PTF Service Award and an AIChE 35 Under 35 recognition. He holds a PhD from Purdue University.
Cristina Thomas
Cristina Urdaneta Thomas is a strategy and R&D leader with more than 35 years of experience across the oil, materials, and technology industries, including roles at MARAVEN, IBM, and 3M. She has helped commercialize technologies in traffic safety, worker safety, and industrial production and holds more than 28 patents. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, she serves on its President’s Business Advisory Committee. She is also an AIChE Fellow and recipient of the 2019 AIChE Industry Leadership Award and Management Award. She holds a PhD in chemical engineering from UMass Amherst.
Marc-Olivier Coppens
Marc-Olivier Coppens is Ramsay Memorial Professor and founding Director of the Centre for Nature-Inspired Engineering at University College London. His research in nature-inspired chemical engineering focuses on solutions for sustainability and health. An AIChE Fellow, he has a strong record of AIChE leadership and received the AIChE PSRI Lectureship Award in Fluidization. He is also a Fellow of the RSC and IChemE, and Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification. Coppens holds engineering degrees from Ghent University and completed postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley.
Christopher Jones
Christopher W. Jones is the John F. Brock III School Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech, where he has been on the faculty since 2000. His research focuses on materials development for catalysis and adsorptive separations, with more than 400 journal articles and 25 patents. He has mentored more than 100 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and developed one of the nation’s first chemical product design courses. Jones holds a BSE from the University of Michigan and MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from Caltech.
Laura Ford
Laura P. Ford is Associate Professor in the Russell School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Tulsa and an AIChE Fellow. She has served AIChE for more than two decades, including as a student chapter advisor, Chair of the Student Chapters Committee, and Chair of the Education Division Course Survey Committee. Her service has been recognized with the Education Division Award for Service to Chemical Engineering Education and AIChE’s Gary Leach Recognition Award. Ford holds a BS from Oklahoma State University, and MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
