Grant Wins Leadership Award

Dr. Christine Grant, associate dean for faculty development and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has won a national leadership award.

Grant received the 2011 Winifred Burks-Houck Women’s Professional Leadership Award from the National Organization for Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. The honor, presented at last month’s national conference, also recognizes Grant’s commitment to the community and professional success. The award honors the late Winifred A. Burks-Houck, the organization’s first female president.

Grant has been honored with several awards from the organization: a graduate student fellowship from Eastman Kodak, the Lloyd M. Fergusson Young Scientist Award and the Professional Award in Chemical Engineering. Three of her mentees have also received graduate student fellowships.

Grant’s responsibilities as an associate dean include overseeing programs such as on-campus professional development seminars and trips to funding agencies to build collaboration. Her research focuses on surface and interfacial phenomena related to the areas of biomaterials, electronic materials and polymer thin films. Her mentoring work has earned many top honors, including an National Science Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, and the National Technical Association’s Top Women in Science and Engineering Award.

She is founder and director of the Promoting Underrepresented Presence On Science and Engineering Faculties (PURPOSE) Institute, an organization dedicated to increasing the number and success of engineering faculty members from underrepresented groups.

Grant earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Brown University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She joined the NC State faculty in 1989.