Appointments
Professor | Distinguished McKnight University Professor | Zsolt Rumy Innovaiton Chair | MacArthur Fellow | Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science | University of Minnesota
- Director, Center for Programmable Energy Catalysis
- Co-Founder, Lakril Technologies
- Co-Founder, Sironix Renewables
- Co-Founder, Carba
- Co-Founder, Activated Research Company
Biographical Sketch
Paul Dauenhauer received a bachelor of science in chemical engineering and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2004, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2008, where he was awarded a University Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. His thesis on the reactive flash volatilization of carbohydrates for millisecond reforming of biomass was supervised by Professor Lanny D. Schmidt. From 2008 to 2009, Paul worked as a senior research engineer for the Dow Chemical Company within Core R&D Reaction Engineering in Midland, MI and the Hydrocarbons & Energy Department in Freeport, TX. In 2009, he joined the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Chemical Engineering as an assistant professor. He is currently the Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Zsolt Rumy Innovation Chair, and MacArthur Fellow at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
Appointments
- University of Minnesota, 2014.
- University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2009
- Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 2008-2009.
- Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, MI, 2009.
- Cargill, Sweeteners, Wahpeton, ND, 2003.
- Cargill, Grain & Oilseeds, Gainesville, GA, 2002.
Education
B.S., Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 2004
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2008
Research Areas
Catalysis, Separations & Reaction Engineering
Awards
- 2025 - BASF Lecture, Wayne State University
- 2024 - Distinguished McKnight University Professor
- 2024 - Lincoln High School, Alumni Wall of Fame
- 2023 - Grand Prize, Minnesota Cup
- 2022 - Holtz Lecture, Johns Hopkins University
- 2022 - Marple-Schweitzer Lecture, Northwestern University
- 2021 - Blavatnik Finalist
- 2021 - Herman Pines Award
- 2021 - Dourdeville Lecture, Brown University
- 2021 - University of Wisconsin Early Career Award
- 2021 - Eastman Lecture, University of California Berkeley
- 2020 - MacArthur Fellowship
- 2019 - Dept. of Energy, Top Ten EFRC Invention Award
- 2019 - Univ. of Minnesota COGS, Outstanding Advisor Award
- 2019 - Stratis V. Sotirchos Memorial Lectureship
- 2019 - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship
- 2018 - AIChE CRE Young Investigator Award
- 2017 - Thiele Lecturer - Notre Dame
- 2016 - Rutherford Aris Award for Excellence in Reaction Engineering
- 2016 - Purdue University - Mellichamp Lecturer
- 2014 - Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar
- 2014 - Armstrong Career Development Professor
- 2013 - National Science Foundation, NSF- CAREER Award
- 2013 - DuPont Young Professor Award
- 2013 - AIChE Boston Mackerel Award
- 2013 - UMass College of Eng. - Outstanding Junior Faculty Award
- 2011 - Department of Energy, DOE - Early CAREER
- 2011 - 3M Young Faculty Award
- 2008 - Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
- 2004 - Dahlke Engineering Scholarship
- 2003 - National Starch Scholarship
- 1999-2003 - Academic Excellence Scholarship - State of Wisconsin
- 1999 - John Philip Sousa Award
