The University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering has appointed Professor Ramanan Krishnamoorti to serve as chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
"We are excited about Ramanan's decision to step up and lead the department," said Joseph W. Tedesco, Elizabeth D. Rockwell Endowed Chair and dean of the Cullen College of Engineering. "Chemical, biomolecular and petroleum engineering will play a major role in our move toward Tier One status and strong leadership is needed. We certainly believe in Ramanan's ability to move the department forward."
Krishnamoorti joined the college in 1996 after earning a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton in 1994 and completing research fellowships at the California Institute of Technology and Cornell. He earned a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras in 1988.
Over the course of his tenure, he has served as associate dean for research at the college and a visiting professor of bioengineering at Rice University. He has earned numerous awards including the National Science Foundation Career Award, the Polymer Physics Prize from the Journal of Polymer Science and two Excellence in Research and Scholarship Awards from the University of Houston.
Krishnamoorti was recently named a fellow of the American Physical Society for his outstanding research contributions to polymer thermodynamics, and structure and properties of polymer nanocomposites. Over the last 12 years, he has garnered more than $4 million in funding for research in these areas as they relate to automobiles, aerospace, biomaterials and nanotechnology.
In addition to the APS, Krishnamoorti is a member of the American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Engineering Education and the Materials Research Society. He holds a joint appointment in the UH Department of Chemistry.