Influential chemical engineer and entrepreneur to discuss sanitation economy and wastewater treatment that takes needs, desires, and resources of people into account

National Academy of Engineering member and groundbreaking chemical engineer Lilia Abron will deliver the 2022 Distinguished Water Lecture on Thursday, October 27, at Lehigh University. 

Abron is founder, president and chief executive officer of Peer Consultants, an engineering consulting firm focused on environmental issues and concerns relating to the physical and human environments. She was recognized by the NAE in 2020 for her “leadership in providing technology-driven sustainable housing and environmental engineering solutions in the United States and South Africa.”

Her lecture—“Wastewater Treatment as if People Mattered!”—will discuss the sanitation economy and wastewater treatment that takes the needs, desires, and resources of people into account. The event, which begins at 4:30 p.m., will be held in University Center Room 303 and streamed online. More details can be found on the lecture’s webpage

The Distinguished Water Lecture, which is presented by the Rossin College and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in Lehigh’s College of Arts and Sciences, was launched in 2019, in an effort led by Arup SenGupta, P.C. Rossin Professor in the departments of civil and environmental and chemical and biomolecular engineering. The series brings top researchers, innovators, and policy makers in water science to Lehigh’s campus and seeks to broaden the dialogue about unmet needs around local and global water issues.

Lilia Abron

Dr. Lilia A. Abron is the first African-American woman in the nation to earn a PhD in chemical engineering.