The Donald L. Katz Lectureship
The lectureship is named in honor of the late Donald L. Katz, who was a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan for many years. Dr. Katz was an inspiring teacher, outstanding leader, and imaginative investigator in the field of Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Technology. He was the recipient of 24 national and international awards for his technical achievements and public and professional service, including election to the National Academy of Engineering and a citation and award of the National Medal of Science by President Reagan in 1983.
Professor Katz attended the University of Michigan, earning B.S. (1927), M.S. (1932), and Ph.D. (1933) degrees in chemical engineering: he completed his doctorate under the direction of G.G. Brown. After working at Phillips Petroleum for three years, he joined the University of Michigan faculty. During his tenure on the Michigan faculty, he supervised 39 doctoral students, was department chair for ten years (1951-1961), served on (and chaired for three years) the Ann Arbor Board of Education (1948-1957), was President of the AIChE (1959), and Chairman of EDUCOM (1971-1972). He also served some 60 industrial and governmental organizations as a consulting engineer during his professional life. Professor Katz’s extraordinary accomplishments in petroleum engineering, reservoir engineering, underground gas storage, heat transfer, and phase behavior resulted in the publication of nearly 300 papers, ten books, nine monographs, and nine patents.
Professor Katz remained active in consulting and writing until a few weeks before his death in May, 1989. His final book, Natural Gas Engineering Production and Storage, co-authored with Robert L. Lee, was published by McGraw Hill in January, 1990.
Past Recipients
| 2025 David Weitz Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at Harvard University |
| 2024 Gregory Stephanopoulos Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 2023 Enrique Iglesia University of California Berkeley |
| 2022 Linda J. Broadbelt Northwestern University |
| 2019 Zhenan Bao Stanford University |
| 2018 Emily A. Carter Princeton University |
| 2017 Paula A. Hammond Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 2016 David A. Tirrell California Institute of Technology |
| 2015 Babatunde A. Ogunnaike University of Delaware |
| 2014 Kristi S. Anseth University of Colorado at Boulder |
| 2013 Michael F. Doherty University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 2012 Jay D. Keasling University of California, Berkeley |
| 2011 Jens K. Nørskov Stanford University |
| 2010 Carol K. Hall North Carolina State University |
| 2009 Professor Mark E. Davis California Institute of Technology |
| 2008 Professor James A. Dumesic University of Wisconsin |
| 2007 Professor Mark A. Barteau University of Delaware |
| 2006 Professor David V. Boger University of Melbourne |
| 2005 Professor Pablo G. Debenedetti Princeton University |
| 2004 Professor Robert S. Langer Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 2003 Professor Jerome S. Schultz University of Pittsburgh |
| 2002 Professor Klavs F. Jensen Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 2001 Professor Alice P. Gast Stanford University |
| 2000 Professor Donald R. Paul University of Texas at Austin |
| 1999 Professor Douglas A. Lauffenburger Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 1998 Centennial Symposium |
| 1997 Professor John M. Praunitz University of California, Berkeley |
| 1996 Professor Edward E. Cussler University of Minnesota |
| 1995 Professor Robert A. Brown Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 1994 Professor Richard M. Felder North Carolina State University |
| 1993 Professor Stuart W. Churchill University of Pennsylvania |
| 1992 Professor Matthew Tirrell University of Minnesota |
| 1991 Professor Keith E. Gubbins Cornell University |
| 1990 Professor J.D. Seader University of Utah |
| 1989 Professor Bruce C. Gates University of Delaware |
| 1988 Professor H. Ted Davis University of Minnesota |
| 1987 Professor Daniel I.C. Wang Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 1986 Professor L. E. Scriven University of Minnesota |
| 1985 Professor John A. Quinn University of Pennsylvania |
| 1984 Professor Alexis T. Bell University of California, Berkeley |
| 1983 Professor Joe D. Goddard University of Southern California |
| 1982 Professor Thomas F. Edgar University of Texas-Austin |
| 1981 Professor John H. Seinfeld California Institute of Technology |
| 1980 Professor Lawrence B. Evans Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 1979 Professor Robert S. Schechter University of Texas-Austin |
| 1978 Professor James W. Westwater University of Illinois-Urbana |
| 1977 Professor Rutherford Aris University of Minnesota |
| 1976 Professor Cedomir M. Sliepcevich University of Oklahoma |
| 1975 Professor Riki Kobayashi Rice University |
| 1974 Professor J.R.A. Pearson Imperial College of Science and Technology, London |
| 1973 Professor Arthur E. Humphrey University of Pennsylvania |
| 1972 Professor Neal R. Amundson University of Minnesota |
| 1971 Professor R. Byron Bird University of Wisconsin (Inaugural Lectureship) |