Candidate Bios

Dr. Juan J. Bravo-Suárez is an associate professor in the Chemical & Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Kansas. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Industrial University of Santander (Colombia) in collaboration with VPI&SU. He was awarded the ACS-PRF doctoral new investigator and NSF-CAREER to advance in situ/operando spectroscopy in heterogeneous catalysis. He has served at ACS, AIChE, NAM, and GPCS as symposia/seminar organizer and secretary for the latter. As an elected officer he will continue to contribute to GPCS mission and goals of promoting and advancing the science of catalysis in the region and nationally.

Clark Miller earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University. He joined Phillips 66 in 2008 and has worked for >15 years in hydroprocessing catalysis of petroleum and renewable feeds. Clark has authored 7 peer reviewed publications, 4 patents, and 86 internal company research reports. He is currently the Industrial Liaison for the Society. Clark is excited to be President to continue past efforts by the Society leadership to keep the high levels of involvement by its members, encourage collaboration between academia and industry, and provide opportunities for the next generation of catalysis scientists. 

Ricardo Prada Silvy is CTO at Chasm Advanced Materials and Adjunct Professor at the University of Oklahoma with more than 35 years of industrial and academia experience. He has held various executive leadership-technical/managerial positions and has extensive experience in refining, petrochemical and carbon nanomaterials catalyst development, reactor design and catalytic processes scaling up. He holds a degree in Chemistry with a major in Chemical Engineering, a MS and PhD in catalysis and material science from the Universite Catholique of Louvain (Belgium) and holds over 30 international patents, most of them are commercial products and published over 120 scientific articles. 

Hyunho Noh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in 2019 from Northwestern University, co-advised by Prof. Joseph Hupp and Prof. Omar Farha, and postdoctoral training from 2019-2023 at Yale University under Prof. Jim Mayer’s lab. His research focuses on developing atomically precise electrocatalyst design principles by determining fundamental thermodynamics and kinetics, using redox-active metal–organic frameworks. His research that bridges the interests of chemistry and engineering departments, and his strong research record (>2200 citations) puts him in an ideal position to serve as the GPCS director.

Bess Vlaisavljevich earned her B.A. at the University of Minnesota Morris in 2007 and her Ph.D. at the Twin Cities campus in 2013. After postdoctoral research, she joined the University of South Dakota in 2017 and moved to the University of Iowa in 2024. Her research focuses on quantum chemistry, particularly for transition metals and actinides. Her work on sustainable polymer synthesis and refrigerant design aligns with the GPCS. As a Director, she aims to foster more connections with students and faculty in the region.

Wenzhen Li is a Professor in Chemical & Biological Engineering at Iowa State University. His PhD from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS. He completed postdoctoral research at Yamanashi University and University of California Riverside, and worked as an assistant and associate professor at Michigan Technological University, before joining ISU in 2014. Li’s research group studies efficient electrocatalysts for biomass, CO2 conversions, and novel paired electrolyzers. Li was a long-time active member of GPCS. His primary goal as a Director will be to expand the reach of the GPCS by developing connections with companies and communities in the region.

I am excited to express my interest in the Director position with the GPCS. Since joining Oklahoma State University in 2014 and being promoted to Associate Professor in 2021, my research has primarily centered on developing cost-effective and efficient catalysts for challenging bond activations. I believe GPCS has significant potential to elevate the science of catalysis in the southwest region by connecting brilliant minds from academia and industry. I would be thrilled to actively engage in this society's initiatives and help bridge the gap in our region. Together, we can cultivate a rich community that inspires and drives progress in catalysis.

In 2010, Jimmie earned his PhD working with Jon Tunge (KU) to develop novel Pd-catalyzed reactions.  Then he performed a post-doc study with Jon Ellman (Yale) where he developed sulfur containing organocatalysts for their use in asymmetric synthesis.  In 2012, he started his independent career studying photocatalysis.  There he has developed a program focused on the use of light to drive formally endergonic processes and the development of the necessary catalysis to support the reaction. Catalysis is critical to answering the grand challenges of our time and is also cross-disciplinary.  As a director, I will work to grow our community.

Long Qi is a Scientist III at Ames National Laboratory. He joined the Lab in December 2017. His research interests focus on heterogeneous catalysis with non-precious elements for strong bond activation critical to sustainable chemical and energy conversions. He excels at adopting in-situ spectroscopy for mechanistic and kinetic studies. Recently, he has dedicated himself to accelerating the manufacturing of chemicals and materials via data-driven and algorithm-enabled research. I am excited to express my interest in the director’s position. I envision a role where I can continuously bridge the local catalysis community, fostering collaboration between universities, industry, and national labs.