Earle B. Barnes Award For Leadership In Chemical Research Management: Henry Bryndza

Sponsor: Dow Chemical Co. ­Foundation

Citation: For his leadership of transformational technology development at the interface of chemistry and biology, ushering in a new era of improved, environmentally sustainable production for renewably resourced materials.

Current position: global technology director, performance polymers, DuPont

Education: B.Sc., chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D., organic chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Bryndza on his current scientific goals: “I hope to play a small role in leading the chemical community to finding a more sustainable way to grow. There are limitations to the resources and infrastructure of how things are made today. Moreover, it’s quite clear the planet cannot survive the environmental assault of the whole world’s chemicals and materials industries growing in the 21st century the way North America and Western Europe grew in the 20th century. It’s going to take new combinations of disciplines, new feedstocks, and a whole new generation of scientists to take on these challenges.”

What his colleagues say:“Henry has had a leading role in creating safer, more environmentally sustainable, chemical processes—for example, by leading the development of replacement chemistry for perfluorooctanoic acid, a key component in the manufacture of Teflon, which he achieved ahead of schedule. He has also been an influential spokesperson for green chemistry on the national level.”—Uma Choudhry, DuPont