Menachem Elimelech Wins ACS Outstanding Achievements Award

Prof. Menachem Elimelech has been named the co-recipient of the American Chemical Society (ACS) 2022 Outstanding Achievements in Environmental Science & Technology Award. 

In its announcement, the ACS cited Elimelech’s “vision, influence, leadership, and major impacts and technological innovations on the field of water quality engineering and treatment working toward clean water for global health and sustainable development in the face of global water scarcity.”

It further notes that Elimelech “is a global leader in the development of novel membrane materials and technologies to provide clean water supplies globally from unconventional water sources such as seawater, brackish groundwater, and wastewater. His work has provided rigor and relevance to enhance human capacity through his unique authoritative insights, inspiration and leadership in the field of water treatment technologies. His research has spanned water treatment, desalination, forward osmosis, water recovery and sanitation in developing countries, and technologies to convert waste heat to energy, and his impactful and visionary papers have led the field in membrane-based desalination and water purification for more than two decades.”

Elimelech, the Sterling Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, shares the award with Professor Jerald L. Schnoor, Allen S. Henry Chair in Engineering of the University of Iowa.

The ACS noted that the award goes to those who have not only played a major role in their own accomplishments, “but also in the building of the environmental science and technology community as a whole.” Further, “these individuals would have dedicated themselves to not only creating new knowledge, but applying that knowledge to improve quality of life, particularly for those most in need.”