Chemistry Seminar: Green Chemistry: The Missing Elements

Chemistry and Materials Science Seminar
Green Chemistry: The Missing Elements

Dr. John Warner
Professor of Practice, Golisano Institute of Sustainability
Rochester Institute of Technology

Abstract:
Imagine a world where all segments of society demanded environmentally benign climate neutral products! Imagine if all consumers, all retailers, and all manufacturers insisted on buying and selling only non-toxic truly sustainable materials! The sad reality is that, even if this situation were to occur, our knowledge of materials science and chemistry would allow us to provide only a small fraction of the necessary products and materials that our economy is based upon. Unfortunately, the way we learn and teach chemistry and materials science in academia is for the most part void of any information regarding mechanisms of toxicity and environmental harm. Green Chemistry is a science that seeks to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials at the design stage of a materials process. It has been demonstrated that materials and products CAN be designed with negligible impact on human health and the environment while still being economically competitive and successful in the marketplace. This presentation will describe the history and background of Green Chemistry and discuss the opportunities for the next generation of materials designers to create a safer and more sustainable future.

Speaker Bio:
John Warner (Professor in Practice, Golisano Institute for Sustainability) is one of the founders of the field of green chemistry. He wrote the book that provides the definition and 12 principles of green chemistry with Paul Anastas in 1998. He received his B.Sc. from UMASS Boston and his PhD from Princeton University. As an industrial chemist, he has over 350 patents and has worked with hundreds of companies worldwide and serves on the sustainability advisory boards of several multinational companies. He received the Perkin Medal in 2014 from The Society of Industrial Chemistry. As an academic, he was a tenured full professor of chemistry and a tenured full professor of plastics engineering at the University of Massachusetts where he started the world’s first PhD program in Green Chemistry. He has over 120 publications in synthetic methodologies, noncovalent derivatization, polymer photochemistry and metal oxide semiconductors. In 2004 he received the Presidential Award for excellence in science mentoring (PAESMEM) from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and President George W Bush and in 2022 he received the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal from the German Chemical Society. As an entrepreneur, John’s inventions have led to the founding of many companies in the fields of photovoltaics, neurochemistry, construction materials, water harvesting and cosmetics. In 2016 he received the Lemelson Invention Ambassadorship from the Lemelson Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences (AAAS).  John was named one of “25 Visionaries Changing the World” by Utne Reader, and “One of the Most Influential People in the Chemical Industries” by ICI – Sciences. John is a member of the Club of Rome, and holds academic appointments at Monash University in Australia, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Somaiya University in India, University of Birmingham in the UK, Rochester Institute of Technology in the US, and Technical University of Berlin in Germany where they have named the “John Warner Center for Start Ups in Green Chemistry.” John currently serves as President and CEO of The Technology Greenhouse.

Intended Audience: All are Welcome!