Ruckenstein Receives Award From American Chemical Society

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Eli Ruckenstein, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University at Buffalo, has received the Langmuir Distinguished Lecturer Award of the Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry of the American Chemical Society.

Ruckenstein recently received the award at the society's 208th national meeting in Washington, D.C., where he also presented a plenary lecture entitled, "Emulsion and Colloidal Pathways to Polymers, Conductive Polymers, Composite Polymers, Membranes and Supported Catalysts."

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional distinction an engineer can achieve in the United States. He was elected to the academy in 1990 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in surface science, which range from applications in separation science to catalysis.

A member of the UB faculty since 1973, Ruckenstein has been honored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers with its most prestigious awards: the Alpha Chi Sigma Award and the Walker Award for excellence in contributions to chemical engineering literature. He also has received the American Chemical Society's Kendall Award for his creative theories and experiments in numerous separation processes, catalysis and organic, inorganic and biological colloids.

In 1985, he received the Senior Humboldt Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in West Germany for his work related to surfactants and the Creativity Award from the National Science Foundation.

He has received three national awards in his native Romania -- one presented by the Romanian Academy of Sciences -- and an honorary doctoral degree from his alma mater, the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, where he served as a professor between 1949-69.

He lives in Amherst.