Professor Susan Daniel elected to be Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering

Professor Susan Daniel has been elected by the Cornell Board of Trustees as the Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering, effective July 1, 2021. This was announced on June 3, 2021 by Abe Stroock, Gordon L. Dibble '50 Professor and William C. Hooey Director of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering with the following message:

Dear Members of the Smith School,

Hello.  I am pleased to pass along the news that the Cornell Board of Trustees has elected Professor Susan Daniel to be the Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering.  

Fred “Dusty” Rhodes was the founder of the Smith School.  With what must have been a will of steel, he managed to extract Chemical Engineering out of the Chemistry department to form our School in 1938. He then got Olin Hall built to house the department in the midst of WWII. He proceeded to serve as Director for two decades and set a standard of excellence, especially in teaching, that has served us well to this day.

With regards to strength of will and breadth of vision, I believe Prof. Daniel is every bit a match to Professor Rhodes, and more. This named professorship recognizes Prof. Daniel’s exceptional contributions in research, teaching, and service. The scale, diversity, and global reach of her lab’s research – from COVID therapeutics to experiments on the International Space Station – would have amazed him; her innovations in the classroom would have been applauded by him; and her tireless, creative, and effective efforts to improve the climate of inclusion in the department would have, likely, challenged him in ways that would have been very beneficial! As the incoming Director, Prof. Daniel is poised to lead the School through changes that will honor, transform, and extend the standards of excellence set down by Dusty Rhodes. It is a proud moment for the Smith School to have Prof. Daniel become the holder of the F.H. Rhodes Professorship.

Please join me in congratulating Prof. Daniel for this well-deserved recognition. 

Regards,

Abe Stroock

Gordon L. Dibble '50 Professor and William C. Hooey Director of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering