Chemical engineering professors receive national award

Donald R. Paul and Nicholas Peppas, chemical engineering professors, have been selected as the 2008 recipients of the Founders Award sponsored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The award recognizes the professors’ distinguished records of service to the profession, including both technical and professional activities. Paul’s research in polymers focuses on blends or alloys, composites and nanocomposites, barrier properties and the use of membranes for separations. Peppas’ research contributions have been in several areas of drug delivery, biomaterials, biomolecular engineering, mass transfer, polymerization kinetics and reaction engineering and polymer physics. Paul holds the Ernest Cockrell, Sr. Chair in Engineering and is director of the Texas Materials Institute at the university. Peppas holds the Fletcher Stuckey Pratt Chair in Engineering.