June Wispelwey, executive director of Society for Biological Engineering, will lead the staff of the worlds largest organization focused on chemical engineering.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) announced that June Wispelwey, executive director of the Society for Biological Engineering (SBE), a technical community within AIChE, will become executive director of the parent organization. Wispelwey will replace John A. Sofranko, who is retiring in January 2009, after eight years in that position.
Dale L. Keairns, AIChEs 2008 president and an executive with Science Applications International Corp., noted that Wispelwey, a chemical engineer who has overseen the successful launch and growth of SBE, will be assuming her new role as AIChE concludes its centennial celebration and begins implementing a new strategic plan designed to guide the Institute into its second century. Wispelwey expressed confidence that AIChEs strengths in industry and technology, along with an increased global presence and use of the Web assure that we will succeed in our mission of advancing technology, sharing knowledge among working professionals, and educating the next generation of engineers.
Wispelwey, who previously served as vice president of marketing services at Aventis Behring and as director of performance chemicals business development at Lyondell, has brought an entrepreneurial approach to AIChE initiatives in new technologies and energy. At SBE, she launched a successful consortium to advance genomic research on cell lines that are important to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
After earning a bachelors degree in chemical engineering at Princeton University and a masters degree in chemical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Wispelwey began her career at Lyondell. She also completed an executive education program at The Wharton School.