Elsa Reichmanis, Professor and Carl Robert Anderson Chair in Chemical Engineering, is the 2024 recipient of the Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). Sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the award recognizes significant accomplishments by individuals who have stimulated or fostered the interest of women in chemistry.
According to ACS, its National Awards program is designed to encourage the advancement of chemistry in all its branches, to support research in chemical science and in industry, and to promote the careers of chemists.
“I’m honored and humbled to be named as a recipient of the Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences Award," says Reichmanis. "As a beneficiary of the guidance and support I received from many mentors and colleagues through the years, both male and female, I learned firsthand how impactful those interactions can be. Perhaps in my own way, and as a way to say thank you to everyone who helped and supported me early in my career, I have tried to, so to speak, pay it forward.”
Reichmanis will be honored at the ACS National Awards ceremony on March 19, 2024, in conjunction with ACS Spring 2024, taking place in New Orleans.
About Elsa Reichmanis
Reichmanis joined Lehigh's P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science and Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in September 2020. Previously, she served as the Pete Silas Chair in Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech; she started her independent career at Bell Labs, where she was Bell Labs Fellow and Director of the Materials Research Department.
Her research spans from fundamental concept to technology development and implementation. In the field of microlithography (which is central to the manufacturing of electronic devices), her work has contributed to the development of a molecular level understanding of how chemical structure affects materials function leading to new families of lithographic materials and processes that may enable advanced VLSI (very large-scale integration) manufacturing.
Reichmanis was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1995 and has participated in several National Academies Boards and Study Committees. She was an elected member of the Bureau of the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC); has been active in the American Chemical Society (ACS) throughout her career, having served as 2003 President of the Society; has served the chemical engineering profession in many roles including membership on the Institute Awards sub-committee and the AIChE Board of Directors; and is an Executive Editor for the ACS journal Chemistry of Materials. She is the recipient of several awards, including the AIChE John M. Prausnitz Institute Lecture Award (2022), ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials (2018), the AIChE Margaret H. Rousseau Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Woman Chemical Engineer (2018); the ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science (1999), the ASM Engineering Materials Achievement Award (1996), and the Society of Chemical Industry's Perkin Medal (2001).
About The Reichmanis Group
The Reichmanis Group's research interests include the chemistry, properties, and applications of materials technologies for electronic and photonic applications, with particular focus on polymeric and nanostructured materials for advanced technologies. The group is currently exploring polymeric and hybrid organic/inorganic materials chemistries for a range of (opto)electronic device and sustainable energy applications. They aim to identify fundamental parameters that will enable sub-nanometer scale dimensional control of organic, polymer and/or hybrid materials for applications including transistor devices, photovoltaics, and high-capacity energy storage. Visit the Reichmanis Group Web site for more information.
