Phillip E. Savage is Professor of Chemical Engineering and holds the Walter L. Robb Family Chair as Department Head at Penn State. He is also Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan. His lab has advanced the frontiers of chemical reaction engineering through experimental and modeling research on reaction pathways, kinetics, and mechanisms for a variety of reaction systems. In addition to impactful accounts of original research, his lab has published a well-received tutorial on mechanisms and kinetics for hydrocarbon pyrolysis, a perspective on catalysis in supercritical water, and influential review articles on chemical reactions in hot compressed water and in supercritical fluids.
Savage’s reaction engineering research has been recognized previously. His lab’s use of hot compressed water as a medium for synthesis of terephthalic acid led to receipt of the inaugural Michigan Governor’s Award for Green Chemistry in 2009. Their contributions on hydrothermal catalysis led to Savage’s receipt of the Parravano Award from the Michigan Catalysis Society in 2014. His work on hydrothermal reactions of algal biomass led to his 2015 receipt of the inaugural Energy & Fuels Joint Award for Excellence in Publication from the ACS. He also received the 2020 Lawrence K. Cecil Award from the AIChE Environmental Division.
Savage served as Chair and Director of AIChE’s Catalysis and Reaction Engineering (CRE) Division and is a Fellow of both AIChE and ACS. He is Editor-in-Chief for Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Savage earned his B.S. in ChE from Penn State and masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Delaware.