Purdue University's School of Chemical Engineering has a tradition of recognizing alumni who have achieved distinction as leaders in their careers and who have shaped the chemical engineering profession. Over the years, only 139 of the school's nearly 11,000 alumni have been accorded the prestigious Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award. On Thursday (Sept. 25),  the School presented Rob Crane (MSChE '94, PhD '97), Jefferson (Jeff) C. Lievense (PhD '84) and Stephen (Steve) R. Murrill (BSChE '71) with the 2014 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award.

Rob Crane

Rob Crane is Planning Executive with ExxonMobil Research & Engineering. At Purdue, he studied with advisors Nick Delgass and Ron Andres, working on synthesis and characterization of nanostructured catalysts for partial oxidation reactions.

After earning both master's and PhD degrees from Purdue, he joined Mobil in Paulsboro, NJ, where he discovered and developed new catalysts for petrochemical applications. He has followed his interest in catalysis through numerous positions in R&D, manufacturing, and management.

As a manager, Rob's assignments became even more diverse, including roles as a Refinery Technical Manager and as Director of Process & Emerging Technologies. Rob assumed his current role as Planning Executive in July 2013. He develops business and technology strategies.

In addition to his Purdue degrees, Rob holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. He is an inventor on more than 15 US patents and has successfully commercialized two major technologies based on his inventions. He is a member of the School of Chemical Engineering's Industrial Advisory Council, American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi Research Society, and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is an Eagle Scout and an Ironman triathlete.

Rob and his wife, Ann, currently reside in Kingwood, Texas, with their two children, Carson and Phillip.

Jeff Lievense

Jeff Lievense is Genomatica's Executive Vice President of Process Technology, a position he has held since May 2012. Jeff led the successful scale-up of the company's direct 1,4-butanediol fermentation process, an industrial biotechnology milestone. For this, Genomatica received the 2013 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award.

From December 2007 to April 2012, he was Executive Vice President of Process Development at Amyris, another industrial biotechnology start-up, where he led the development and scale-up of its pioneering farnesene fermentation process, now in full commercial operation. From 1994 to 2007, Jeff held various technology management positions at Tate & Lyle, and was a lead contributor to the development and commercialization of a fermentation process for 1,3-propanediol, another industry milestone.

Jeff started his career in 1982 at Eastman Kodak where he held various process engineering, research scientist and product management positions. He has also worked at Genencor, a leading industrial enzymes company, and Michigan Biotechnology Institute. Throughout his career, Jeff has worked on more than 30 fermentation products, spanning early-stage R&D to pilot plant development to full-scale manufacturing.

Jeff earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Michigan. He and his wife, Lisa, live in San Diego, California, where Lisa is a biological sciences instructor at UC San Diego and MiraCosta College. Their two children are graduate students: Stephanie (Emory University, Physical Therapy) and Jeffrey (Rice University, Electrical and Computer Engineering).

Steve Murrill

Steve Murrill is president and owner of Profile Plastics in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Under his leadership, Profile Plastics has grown to become one of the premier contract manufacturing heavy-gauge thermoformers in the United States, specializing in highly cosmetic, close tolerance plastic parts and assemblies primarily for the industrial and medical products markets.

After graduating from Purdue in 1971, Steve went on to earn his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1973 and started his career with Exxon Chemical Company in Houston. In 1978, he went to work for the Signode Corp. in marketing and new venture development and acquisitions. In 1986, he seized the opportunity to buy Profile Plastics.

Professionally, Steve has served on the Board of Directors of the Thermoforming Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) for more than 25 years. In 2001, he received the Thermoforming Division's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2011 he was honored as Thermoformer of the Year.

In service to his community, Steve is an Eagle Scout and serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Illinois Boy Scout Council, having recently served a three-year
term as its president.

His parents, Randall (BSChE '42) and Jeanne (BS, Chemistry, '44), are both Purdue graduates. His father received the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 1969 and the Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award in 1993.

Steve and his wife, Liz, live in Wilmette, Illinois, and have three married children, Mark (BSME 2001), Mary and Matt.