DeSimone wins North Carolina Award
(Photo: submitted)
Dr. Joseph DeSimone, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University and Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will receive the North Carolina Award for Science on Oct. 29. The award is the highest civilian honor bestowed by the State of North Carolina.
Governor Bev Perdue and NC Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Linda A. Carlisle will present the awards to DeSimone and five additional recipients in the fields of literature, public service and fine arts at the NC Museum of History. In announcing the award, the governor’s office lauded DeSimone as “one of the nation’s premier scientists … on the cutting edge of research with revolutionary results for cancer treatment, green chemistry and photovoltaics. His breakthroughs and nanotechnology applications in the fields of polymer chemistry, pharmacology, and biomolecular engineering are life-changing and world-saving inventions.”
A recognized chemist and polymer expert, DeSimone develops groundbreaking solutions in “green” manufacturing and promising applications in gene therapy, drug delivery and medical devices. He joined the NC State faculty in 1994 and the UNC-Chapel Hill faculty in 1990. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Tech in 1990.
DeSimone is the third person with ties to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to receive the award. The late Dr. Vivian Thomas Stannett, who was Camille Dreyfus Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering, received the award in 1981. Dr. Viney Aneja, who received his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering at NC State and now teaches in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, received the award in 2007.
Created by the General Assembly in 1961, the North Carolina Awards have been presented annually since 1964. The awards recognize significant contributions to the state and nation in the fields of fine arts, literature, public service and science.
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