Carson Meredith has been selected as the new department head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering.
Meredith joins UT after spending the last 26 years at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he served as professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the executive director of the Georgia Tech Renewable Bioproducts Institute.
Meredith will take the reins of CBE from UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Biorefining Art Ragauskas, who served as the acting department head for nearly three years.
“I’m very excited to join the talented and committed group of faculty, staff, and students in CBE and Tickle College,” Meredith said. “I look forward to working with this group to sustain and expand on CBE’s excellence in education and research.”
Meredith researches the surfaces and interfaces of advanced materials. His work aims to apply fundamentals of polymer, surface, and colloid science to find new ways to engineer materials useful to society and industry.
Meredith’s projects emphasize the utilization of renewable components and sustainable processing to achieve circular manufacturing and use of plastics, composites, foams and coatings, among other things. Many of these materials are critical for food security, energy efficiency and are closely connected to greenhouse gas reduction. Meredith’s group at Georgia Tech pioneered in the area of using chitin and cellulose to derive alternative packaging materials as substitute for plastic.
Meredith has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, with more than 7,600 citations. He has received multiple patents and has led over $30 million in federal and industry funded research.
Meredith is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, where he has served on the leadership committee of the Forest and Plant Bioproducts Division. He also serves on the external advisory boards of the Bioproducts Institute at the University of British Columbia and the Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Institute.
Meredith received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1993 and his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin in 1998.
“I am excited for Dr. Meredith to lead Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the Tickle College,” said TCE Dean Matthew Mench, the Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair of the college. “Dr. Meredith will come into a college with tremendous momentum, and with a vision and the experience to take it even higher. I want to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Art Ragauskus, Acting Department Head and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Biorefining who oversaw CBE during this time of transition.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (rpotkey@utk.edu)