On Thursday November 25, 2022, our Department awarded an Honorary Doctorate to Professor Paul Τ. Anastas, Professor of Environmental Chemistry and director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale University.
Professor Paul T. Anastas, who will speak at his Green Chemistry for a Sustainable World commencement ceremony, is a scientist, author, entrepreneur, public servant, and current Professor of Environmental Chemistry and Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale University. He is widely known as the “Father of Green Chemistry”. Together with John Warner in their book, Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, in 1998, they introduced the “12 Principles of Green Chemistry”, which have influenced and shaped curricula and academic research around the world. They have also changed the face and perception of Chemistry as an “old” science, as well as the way it is applied in industry to produce necessary goods, such as medicines, fuels, plastics, etc.
He was born in 1962, in Boston, USA. His family comes from Naoussa, Macedonia. He studied Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts (1984) and received his PhD in Organic Chemistry (1989). He has served for more than 15 years in government agencies, culminating in his appointment by President Barack Obama and the US Senate as Assistant Administrator and Research & Development Officer of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2009) -2012). In 2007 he started his academic career as Professor of Green Chemistry at Yale University.
Regarding the academic and research achievements of Professor Paul Anastas, he has more than 200 papers in international journals of high impact index, with more than 35,000 references (Google Scholar). He has written 12 book chapters, 14 books (as author or editor) and 6 patents.
His research focuses mainly on innovative synthetic methodologies and the development of new catalysts for the conversion of biomass and carbon dioxide into valuable products, as well as the design of processes that reduce the inherent toxicity of various classes of chemicals. He has also demonstrated significant business initiative by co-founding start-ups or advising large companies in the area of sustainable production of safer chemicals and related products.
In addition to his international scientific recognition, perhaps his most important contribution to the Science of Chemistry lies in the adoption and establishment of the Principles of Green Chemistry, both in research and industrial production, as well as in the training of young scientists, with the ultimate goal of sustainable development with respect for human health and the environment.
We were lucky enough to show Prof. Anastas around our lab, and talk about how BikiarisLab is incorporating the principles of Green Chemistry in polymer science, with the design and characterization of new, more sustainable polymers for a future where plastics no longer pose a big threat to the environment.
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