Page 15 - CEMS Winter 2022 Newsletter

ALUMNI NEWS
Alumni awards & news
AIChE Institute Awards
Mark Ellis (ChE, Math ’82, PhD ChE ’90) was awarded the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Industry Leadership Award for his polymerization reaction engineering research, technical platform creation, tenacious technical championing, engaged product development collaborations, and manufacturing partnerships, all resulting in dramatic sales and growth.
Doraiswami Ramkrishna (PhD ChE ’65) was awarded the William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature. Ramkrishna is the Harry Creighton Peffer Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. He is noted for his research on the application of mathematics to chemical and biochemical reaction engineering, biotechnology, particulate systems, stochastic modeling and personalized medicine.
In Memoriam
Richard “Dick” Danielson (ChE ’51) passed away on October 24, 2021. After completing his education, Dick
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interests in renewable energy, especially torrefaction and gasification of lignocellulosic biomass. He currently holds 14 U.S. patents.
began working as a chemical engineer for 3M and built a successful career in which he traveled throughout Europe and Japan and was instrumental in developing several patents for the company. He retired from 3M in 1988 and was inducted into the 3M Carlton Society in 1989 for his “outstanding contributions to the progress of 3M’s science and technology.”
Chang Y. Ryu (PhD ChE ’98) passed away on July 18, 2021. He was a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Director of the New York State Center for Polymer Synthesis since 2014. Professor Ryu was passionate about education
and regularly taught courses to freshmen, juniors, and seniors. He mentored scores of students as a research or academic adviser throughout his 21 years at Rensselaer.
Rodney Charles Tuomi (ChE ’73) passed away on October 6, 2021. As an engineer, he worked for General Mills, U.S. Steel, and Eveleth Taconite and later went on to receive a Pastoral degree and computer science degree. Throughout his life he was in the ministry for 30-plus years.
people you didn’t know and could only communicate with via email or Zoom meetings. But the work is very similar to my work in DTC, and the staff have been very welcoming during the last four months.
Becky holds a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Management, both from St. Catherine University. She has worked at the University of Minnesota for the past 22 years. In her free time, she likes to travel, watch movies, read books and spend time with her family.
Becky Wyatt
Becky Wyatt began working
in CEMS in April 2021 on an interim basis due to the closure of the Digital Technology Center (DTC), splitting her time between CEMS and Math. She was then hired as a Finance Professional 3 Supervisor, working with faculty managing their research grants and assisting with grant proposals.
During that time, the University was still on “reduced operations” (until August 2,
2021) and all faculty and staff were still working from home. Becky remarked, “It was challenging working with
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