Three ChE alumni honored as 2018 Outstanding Chemical Engineers
Davidson School of Chemical Engineering presented three of its distinguished alumni with the 2018 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award. Stephen R. Cornell (BSChE '79), Prasenjeet Ghosh (PhD '02), and Marcy Ziek (BSChE '77) were honored at a banquet on Thursday, September 6.
Davidson School of Chemical Engineering presented three of its distinguished alumni with the 2018 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award. Stephen R. Cornell (BSChE '79), Prasenjeet Ghosh (PhD '02), and Marcy Ziek (BSChE '77) were honored at a banquet on Thursday, September 6.
Stephen R. Cornell (BSChE '79) (left) is currently Joint President and CEO of Sasol Limited, $30 billion chemicals and energy company listed on the Johannesburg and New York Stock exchanges. He joined the company in 2014, and was initially responsible for all operational activities outside Africa.
Prior to joining Sasol, he held various executive positions with both BP and Total.
From 2008-2014, Stephen was with BP, where he was first responsible for their refining business in the U.S. and then became Chief Operating Officer for U.S. Fuels. He was also responsible for the development of the BP fuels business in China.
From 1988-2007, Stephen was with Total, holding various positions in both fuels and petrochemicals businesses. During this time, he led manufacturing sites in Antwerp, Belgium; became Vice President of Base Chemicals, NAFTA, in Houston, Texas; Executive Vice President, Samsung Total Petrochemicals, in Seoul, South Korea; Senior Vice President Petrochemicals, Middle East & Asia, based in Brussels, Belgium.
Stephen earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 1979. He was with Exxon Company, USA from 1979-1987, working in both Texas and California.
Stephen is a former Chairman of the Downstream Committee of the American Petroleum Institute, a current Board member of the American Chemistry Council and current Executive Director of Sasol Limited.
He is a published author of the novel, Crisis Pending. Stephen is married, has two children, and the family resides in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Prasenjeet Ghosh (PhD '02) (right) is the Director of Global Chemicals Process Research with ExxonMobil Chemical Company. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 2002, working with advisors James Caruthers, Nick Delgass and Venkat Venkatasubramanian.
He joined ExxonMobil in 2002 in their Research and Engineering group in New Jersey where he developed and deployed large scale reaction kinetic and process models for all refining operations worldwide. In 2005, he transferred to Corporate Strategic Research where he led the discovery and development of many new catalysts for petroleum and petrochemical applications. He followed his interest in catalysis through numerous positions in R&D, Process Engineering, and Technology Management.
As part of the Leadership Team, Prasenjeet’s assignments became more diverse over the years, including many strategic roles as Senior Advisor to ExxonMobil Technology President, Senior Advisor for Crude and Gas Markets, and Global Business Manager for Specialty Chemicals business before assuming his current role in early 2018. He and his team are responsible for the discovery, development and deployment of new chemical process technologies globally.
Prasenjeet is passionate about technology. He has authored more than 25 international papers and conference presentations, and holds several patents in discovery of new materials.
In addition to his Purdue degree, Prasenjeet also has a MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with distinction, and highest honors, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology where he graduated summa cum laude.
He and his wife, Dr. Gargi Ghosh, live in The Woodlands, TX, with their son Ayan.
Marcy (Siegel) Ziek (BSChE '77) (left) earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 1977 and her MBA from Xavier University in 1982. She spent most of her career as a Senior Project Engineer at Emery Oleo in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 2000, Marcy has been a full-time volunteer, serving a variety of organizations both at home in Cincinnati and at Purdue.
At Purdue, Marcy served over 10 years on the Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO) Advisory Board, including about 4 years as chairperson. She also served on the search committee for the current Director of PMO, Bill Griffel.
As an alumna, Marcy co-chaired 40th class reunion for her ChE class of 1977 and friends. She currently serves on the Purdue Center for Cancer Research (PCCR) Director’s Advancement Board.
While in Cincinnati, Marcy has served nearly 10 years as an officer of her congregation, Temple Sholom, including 2 years as president. She initiated Temple Sholom’s turnaround from a failing religious institution to a vibrant faith community.
Marcy served with Friendship Club, Cincinnati’s support group for Holocaust survivors, for about 8 years. She helped with a restitution program known as Emergency Assistance, and increased the total annual amount Cincinnati survivors received from about $50,000 to over $450,000.
Marcy lives in Blue Ash, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, with her husband Bob.