At the inauguration of Deepak and Neera Raj Center of Indian Economic Studies at Columbia University by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on October 5 held at Columbia University, Columbia professor P. Somasundaran was honored with faculty award. Others present a the meeting included Indian Ambassador the US Arun Kumar Singh and Indian Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay.

The award was presented by the famous economist and Director of the new center, Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati.

Ponisseril Somasundaran is LaVon Duddleson Krumb Professor of Mineral Engineering, Director of the Langmuir Center for Colloids & Interfaces, and Founding Director of National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Studies in Novel Surfactants at Columbia University. He is a former Chairman of Columbiaâ€™s Henry Krumb School of Mines and a former Chair of Department of Chemical Engineering, Material Science & Mineral Engineering. Before joining Columbia, he worked for the International Minerals and Chemical Corporation and Reynolds Industries. Somasundaran received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Somasundaranâ€™s research has covered a wide spectrum of environmental, energy, and material problems, including enhanced oil recovery, oil spill remediation, waste water treatment, bio implants, tissue engineering, and nanotoxicity. His most recent work for Ebola decontamination involved the use of bleach foam. His work has also focused on Indiaâ€™s many critical resources, including the countryâ€™s only domestic source for phosphate fertilizer and iron ore. Somasundaran has served as director of the Volunteers in Service to Education in India, which established scholarships, provided scientific equipment, and supplied course curriculums.

Somasundaran is the author/editor of fifteen books and over 700 scientific publications and patents. He is the honorary editor-in-chief of the international journal \"Colloids and Surfaces\" and has served on many international, national and professional committees, including the National Research Council and National Science Foundation Advisory Committees. He was inducted in 1985 to the National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional distinction conferred to an engineer at the time, and later, to the Chinese, Indian, and Russian National Academies. Most recently, Somasundaran was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2010. Somasundaran is the recipient of numerous awards and honors from around the world, including the 2010 Padma Shri from the president of India and the 2015 Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for Technological Innovation from Columbia University.

Photo: Prof. P Somasundaran (in the right) being presented the Faculty Award by Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati

Columbia University Professor Somasundaran honored