John Leonard Anderson (born 1945) is the current President 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 ...

. He was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

, who served as the eighth president of

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

. Prior to his appointment at IIT, Anderson held positions in academia at various institutions, serving both as the provost of

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

and the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the

College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Biography

Anderson was born and grew up in Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. He attended the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

where he received a B.S. in chemical engineering in 1967. He then went on to obtain an M.S. in chemical engineering, and completed a Ph.D. in 1971, also in chemical engineering, from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. Anderson was part of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

's faculty for five years, where he served as an assistant professor of chemical engineering. On 1 September 1976, Anderson left Cornell to begin a 28-year career at Carnegie Mellon. Starting out as an associate professor, he soon became director of the Biomedical Engineering Program. He continued to weave through the ranks at Carnegie Mellon before being conferred as a University Professor on 1 July 1994, the highest rank for a professor offered at that institution. Two years later, he was appointed dean of the College of Engineering. He was in that position for eight years before leaving the university on 1 April 2004 to become provost, university vice president, and professor of chemical engineering at Case Western Reserve. He was elected to the

in 1992 for contributions to the understanding of colloidal hydrodynamics and membrane transport phenomena. He was also elected as a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 2005. Anderson served at Case Western Reserve from 2004 until 2007. He and the university president Edward M. Hundert lost no-confidence vote March 2, 2006 by the College of Arts and Sciences faculty, by 131–44 against Hundert and 97–68 against Anderson.Inside Higher Ed, March 17, 2006
/ref> He joined IIT on August 1, 2007 as president and professor of chemical engineering. He stepped down as president eight years later, and he was elected president of the National Academy of Engineering in 2019 for a six-year term.

Awards and accomplishments

Anderson was appointed to National Science Board in 2014 and received the National Engineering Award from the American Association of Engineering Societies in 2012. He was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and awarded the Acrivos Professional Progress Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1989. Anderson was a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation from 1982-83. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Delaware, Illinois Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Case Western Reserve University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John Leonard 1945 births Living people American chemical engineers Carnegie Mellon University faculty Cornell University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Illinois Institute of Technology faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering People from Wilmington, Delaware Presidents of Illinois Institute of Technology University of Delaware alumni Grainger College of Engineering alumni Engineers from Illinois