CATHERINE T. “Katie” HUNT is R&D Director in Innovation Sourcing & Sustainable Technologies at The Dow Chemical Company. Dr. Hunt is actively building collaboration teams across Dow with universities, companies, national labs and government agencies (esp., DOE and DOD) focused on accelerating the pace of innovation. Katie began her career as a senior scientist in analytical research at Rohm and Haas in 1984 after completing an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University. During her 25 years at Rohm and Haas, Katie held positions of increasing responsibility, from research scientist to process chemist to plant laboratory manager to Director of their worldwide Analytical Network and ultimately, Corporate Sustainability Director and Leader for Technology Partnerships.
Katie holds an AB in Chemistry (Cum Laude) from Smith College and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. She was the 2007 President of the American Chemical Society where she championed education, collaboration and innovation, especially related to the Sustainability of Energy, Food and Water. Katie serves as Dow’s US-spokesperson for the International Year of Chemistry (IYC2011) - promoting the role of chemists and chemistry professionals in improving our everyday lives, as well as celebrating the 100th anniversary of Madame Curie winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Dr. Hunt serves on several advisory boards, including: Rochester Institute of Technology National Technical Institute for the Deaf (an appointment by US Secretary of Education), Sustainability Advisory Board for the City of Philadelphia (selected by the Mayor), the National Academies Roundtable for the Science and Technology of Sustainability and the newly formed Global Cool Cities Alliance (started by Art Rosenfeld). Katie is a member of American Chemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Sigma Xi and the New York Academy of Science.
She is especially proud of the RetroFIT Philly “Coolest Block” Contest project with the City of Philadelphia, the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia, The Dow Chemical Company and The Dow Foundation (www.retrofitphilly.com).
Over her professional career, Katie has received numerous awards; she was named one of the “Best 50 Women in Business” in Pennsylvania by Governor Rendell (2007), received the Smith Medal from her alma mater’s Board of Trustees (2008), was selected as the Outstanding Alumna from the University of California, Davis (2009), and was elected as a Fellow by the AAAS (2007) and, more recently, she was in the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society (2009).
In her spare time Katie enjoys yoga, bicycling with her family, judging science fairs and mentoring students.
Photo Credit: Peter Cutts Photography