Greg Carmichael plays pivotal role in shaping the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
When Greg Carmichael arrived at the University of Iowa in 1978 as a young assistant professor, Iowa’s chemical engineering program was at a crossroads.
“When I came, I was told, ‘By the way, our senior class has four people,’” Carmichael recalled. “At that point, the department was still defining what it wanted to become.”
Nearly 50 years later, the department — now the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering — has nearly 200 students and is celebrating its 100th anniversary of accreditation.
CBE marked its centennial with a Milestone Celebration Week engaging faculty, staff, students, and alumni with a series of events, including the Carmichael Symposium to honor the longtime professor.
“When Greg arrived at Iowa, the department was still defining its future,” said Ann McKenna, Dick and Judy Smith Dean of the College of Engineering. “Through decades of leadership, groundbreaking research, and dedication to students and colleagues, he helped transform CBE into a globally respected program. Few individuals have shaped a department as profoundly as Greg has shaped CBE.”
An early face of the department was an immigrant from Germany named Karl Kammermeyer.
The former gymnast would roam the halls, puffing on a cigar and giving advice. As a researcher, Kammermeyer earned acclaim for applying his knowledge of plastic membranes to help perfect the artificial kidney and a prototype heart-lung machine. He equally made an impact as a teacher and mentor, leaving a “family tree” across industry and academia.
“He was a force of nature,” Carmichael said.
Not so coincidentally, Carmichael would eventually hold the title of Karl Kammermeyer Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. If Kammermeyer was a pillar of the first 50 years of the department, Carmichael has certainly been a pillar of the last 50 years.
The 1970s saw growing public awareness of environmental problems, driven by protests, smog episodes, and landmark legislation such as the Clean Air Act. This inspired Carmichael and many others of that generation to turn to chemical engineering as a vehicle to make a difference.
“Environmental problems are due to chemistry, so I decided to become a chemical engineer and learn how to design processing plants that emit less chemicals,” said Carmichael, who would establish the first Eulerian numerical model for regional air pollution during his graduate studies.
Iowa would also adapt, incorporating modeling, systems analysis, and environmental applications. Modeling became a foundation for research and training, influencing how the department approached air quality, atmospheric transport, and, later, climate science.
In the 1980s, Carmichael’s work in Japan and across Asia — where he studied the ozone in mountainous regions, dust transport, and heterogeneous chemistry — reflected Iowa’s shift to global problems.
Alongside his research, Carmichael served 14 years as department chair and 12 years as associate dean for research and graduate studies.
Under his leadership, the department responded to growth in the pharmaceutical, food, and bioprocessing industries, culminating in the 1989 renaming to the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering.
Today, CBE’s research portfolio spans air quality and climate, biological and pharmaceutical engineering, polymers and advanced materials, sensing and machine learning, and sustainable energy and water. Faculty and students continue building upon the department’s legacy.
Carmichael’s work also continues. He has ongoing service with international scientific bodies, including the United Nations World Meteorological Organization, and recently contributed to a study finding that micro- and nano-plastics in the air may be warming the planet.
“Trained as a chemical engineer studying acid rain caused by sulfur dioxide emissions in the 1970s, Prof. Carmichael’s research has continually evolved to confront some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time, while instilling in CBE a spirit of bold, innovative, and worldclass research,” said Jun Wang, Lichtenberger Family Chair in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and CBE department head.
History-making alumna
Lilia A. Abron delivered the keynote address at CBE's 100th anniversary banquet. Abron is the first African American woman in the nation, and the third woman at the University of Iowa, to earn a doctorate in chemical engineering.
She shared memories of her time at Iowa and of using engineering to improve access to clean water in Africa. Abron challenged today’s students to focus their work on clean air, clean water, and clean energy.