The 2016 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award recipients are:

Christopher N. Bowman, BSChE ’88, PhD ’91 - Chris Bowman is a Distinguished Professor and the James and Catherine Patten Endowed Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado. He is also the Director of the Materials Science and Engineering Program.

After earning his BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 1988 and his PhD degree also from Purdue under advisor Nicholas A. Peppas in 1991, Chris began his academic career at the University of Colorado in January 1992 as an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering. He was promoted to Associate Professor in August 1995 and named Gillespie Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering in August 1999. In July 2005, Chris was named the Mel and Virginia Clark Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He then served as Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering from August 2003 to June 2007, and again from July 2011 to June 2012.

Chris has published nearly 350 refereed papers and has been recognized with awards from the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Materials Research Society, and the Society for Biomaterials. His research involves the synthesis of novel monomers and the implementation of various photo-initiated polymerization reactions in a range of applications, including adhesives, coatings, dental materials, photolithography, nanotechnology and biomaterials.

Steven D. Perry, BSChE ’84 - Steve Perry is Vice President of Drug Substance Technical Operations at Cook Pharmica, a division of Cook Medical based in Bloomington, Indiana, specializing in the development and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals. Steve originally joined Cook Pharmica in 2010 as Director of Drug Substance Operations and was promoted to Vice President in March 2011. He is currently responsible for drug substance tech transfer, scale-up, and oversight of manufacturing campaigns.

Steve has over 25 years of experience in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, beginning his career at Johnson and Johnson’s Ortho Biotech subsidiary as a Project Engineer where he played a key role in the startup of the first biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico. He later joined ImClone Systems (now part of Eli Lilly) as Senior Director of Commercial Manufacturing, managing a 75-person organization during launch of the company’s flagship product. Steve was subsequently named Vice President of Manufacturing Operations for Cytovance Biologics, where he built a manufacturing organization and initiated production operations. He also served as Vice President of Operations for Trek Diagnostics, with responsibility for worldwide manufacturing of diagnostic instruments and consumables.

A native of West Lafayette, Steve earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 1984 and an MS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987. He went on to earn his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2003. 

Kimberly K. Underhill, BSChE ’87 - Kim Underhill is President of Kimberly-Clark Professional based in Roswell, Georgia. She is a member of Kimberly-Clark’s Senior Leadership Team and leads one of the company’s fastest-growing business units, focused on creating exceptional workplaces for business customers. Kimberly-Clark Professional sells a wide range of commercial products and services globally, including commercial tissue and wipers, skin care, safety, and do-it-yourself supplies.

Kim was named to her current position in March 2014 and previously served as President of Kimberly-Clark’s consumer business in Western and Central Europe, based in Reigate, United Kingdom.

After starting her career as a process engineer with General Electric, Kim joined Kimberly-Clark in 1988 and since then has managed a wide range of increasing responsibilities within Research & Engineering, Supply Chain and Marketing across the North American consumer business, which includes leading brands such as Huggies®, Kleenex®, Scott® and Kotex®.

A native of Evansville, Indiana, Kim earned her BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University in 1987 and her master’s degree in engineering management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1998.