At this year’s FiltCon, the annual conference and trade show of the American Filtration and Separations Society, retired University of Akron professor George Chase will be honored with a one-day technical track. FiltCon 2023 will take place May 1-3 in Louisville, KY, and this track will take place on Tuesday, May 2. Current University of Akron students and Professor Chase's past students are invited to submit abstracts specifically for this track.

>>Submit an abstract for FiltCon 2023

In 2021, Professor George Chase retired from a long and distinguished career with the University of Akron, where he had served as Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering since 1989. For the four years leading up to his retirement, he also served as interim director of Research Initiatives and president of the University of Akron Research Foundation.

Beloved by his countless students over the years, Professor Chase advised over 60 M.S. and Ph.D. students, many of whom subsequently pursued careers in the filtration industry. With his students, he has authored over 400 publications on topics relevant to filtration and separations technologies. He is an alumnus of the University of Akron, where he earned both a B.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering.

He received several recognitions and awards for his service to the engineering profession, including: STEM Exemplar by The Ohio Academy of Science in 2017, Honorable Mention - Alice Hamilton Award by NIOSH in 2016, and induction into the National Academy of Inventors in 2011.

In other service, Professor Chase served on active duty in the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1978 to 1983 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army Reserves in 2001.

In service to the American Filtration and Separations Society he was elected twice as AFS Chair, in 1995 and 2002. He also served on the board of directors and as AFS Conference Chair multiple times.  He received the AFS Senior Scientist Award, Frank Tiller Award, AFS Lifetime Achievement Award and AFS Fellow Award.

In honor of his retirement and his lifetime achievement, in 2021 the AFS established the Professor George Chase Award for Excellence in Academic Research to recognize academic researchers and their students who make significant contributions to the filtration and separations profession. The AFS will bestow one award per year when a deserving candidate duo (professor and student) meet the criteria.