John Michael Prausnitz (born January 7, 1928) is a professor of chemical engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, a position he has held since 1955.Annual Reviews Conversations Presents An Interview with John M. Prausnitz
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. '' Annual Reviews'', 24 May 2011. Prausnitz received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1955 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Liquid-phase turbulent mixing properties." Prausnitz is responsible for many of the

activity coefficient In thermodynamics, an activity coefficient is a factor used to account for deviation of a mixture of chemical substances from ideal behaviour. In an ideal mixture, the microscopic interactions between each pair of chemical species are the same ...

models used for the design of major chemical plants. He is a recipient of the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

in the field of engineering for his work in engineering-oriented molecular thermodynamics. He was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

in 1979 for contributions to the thermodynamics of phase equilibria and its application to industrial process design. He was the founding

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

of the '' Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering'' in 2010.

References

Living people 1928 births American chemical engineers UC Berkeley College of Chemistry faculty National Medal of Science laureates Cornell University alumni University of Rochester alumni Princeton University alumni Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering {{US-engineer-stub