Inducted
2021
Degrees
B.S. - Chemistry, Allentown College of St. Francis DeSales, 1970
John was born and raised in Bethlehem, PA and graduated from Bethlehem Catholic High School in 1966. He attended Allentown College of St. Francis DeSales, earning a BS in Chemistry in 1970. In 1973 he graduated from the University of Maryland with an MS in Physical Chemistry.
Subsequently John did a brief stint in industry, first working as a plant operator in an acid-recovery pilot plant, and later as a Research Associate for Air Products and Chemicals in Trexlertown, PA. He was co-inventor on several US patents in gas-phase separations.
In 1976 John realized that his true calling was in education, so he accepted a position as instructor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He began taking graduate chemical engineering courses and earned an MSCHE and eventually his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in December of 1982.
He began his academic career at West Virginia University in January 1983 as an Assistant Professor and rose through the ranks being promoted to Professor in 1993. His research program was focused on energy conversion processes for coal and specifically the areas of pyrolysis, gasification, and catalyzed liquefaction. Later he was part of WVU’s Carbon Products group where the goal was the production of value-added carbon materials from coal. When the program ended, he applied his background to biomass conversion and later to the study of degradation mechanisms for fuel cells.
While at WVU, John was recognized with numerous awards for his teaching and advising activities, including the Nick Evans Advising Excellence Award, the Neil S Bucklew Award for Social Justice, the Mary Catherine Buswell Award, the CEMR Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award and the WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching. He was the proud faculty advisor for the WVU Sections of the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers and Omega Chi Epsilon for over 30 years.
Since his retirement in 2020, he has been living with his wife Rena on their farm in Preston County where he enjoys being a gentleman farmer. He has two daughters, Anne Marie and Kate, and three grandchildren, Cora, Oliver and Mary Grace