9:18 a.m., Feb. 19, 2009----Mark Barteau, Robert L. Pigford Chair of Chemical Engineering and senior vice provost for research and strategic initiatives at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the 2009 Giuseppe Parravano Award from the Michigan Catalysis Society.

The award will be presented at the society's 31st annual spring symposium in May, where Barteau will be invited to present an award address.

The Parravano Award is given biennially in odd-numbered years to an individual from North America to formally recognize outstanding contributions to catalytic science and technology.

Barteau was cited for “his groundbreaking contributions to catalysis by metal oxides and transition metals, which led to the development of fundamental understanding and design of novel, improved catalytic materials.”

Prof. Manos Mavrikakis of the University of Wisconsin Madison, an expert in surface science and catalysis, commented on the award's announcement, “Mark Barteau is an excellent choice for the Parravano Award. He is one of the most decorated surface science/catalysis researchers in the world and rightly so: he has pioneered the fundamental understanding of catalytic processes at the molecular level on metal oxides and metals and has contributed enormously to designing new more efficient catalysts and catalytic processes.”

Barteau joined UD's Department of Chemical Engineering in 1982 after earning a bachelor's degree at Washington University in St. Louis and master's and doctoral degrees at Stanford University.

He received the University's Francis Alison Award in 2004 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006.

In addition, Barteau has won a number of awards from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Catalysis Society and the American Chemical Society. He was recently named to AIchE's list of “100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era.”

Article by Diane Kukich