The Gaden Memorial Lecture is an annual examination of the changing interface between chemical engineering, cognate sciences, and society.

ELMER L. GADEN JR., widely known as the "father of biochemical engineering," received all of his degrees from Columbia. Shortly after receiving his doctorate in 1949, he became a faculty member and remained at Columbia, often serving as department chair, until 1979. He was the founding editor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering (1959-1974) and retired as Willis Johnson Professor from the University of Virginia in 1994. He received many awards throughout his career for scholarship, outstanding teaching, and service to the many professional organizations he served. In 2009, he was awarded the NAE Fritz and Delores Russ Prize, one of engineering's highest honors, in recognition of the profound effect of his work and leadership on the large-scale production of antibiotics following the Second World War. Professor Gaden died on March 10, 2012.

PAST GADEN LECTURERS

George Georgiou  2007
Frank Bates 2008
Frances Arnold 2009
John H. Seinfeld 2010
Chaitan Khosla 2011
Manfred Morari 2012
Enrique Iglesia 2013
Nicholas A. Peppas 2014
Joan F. Brennecke 2015
Paula Hammond 2016
Mark Verbrugge 2017
Jennifer A. Lewis 2018
Nathan Lewis 2019
Rachel A. Segalman 2021
Eric S.G Shaqfeh 2022

 

Photo at top from the May 31, 1971 cover of Chemical & Engineering News.