Guest Speaker Series
Dr. John Warner is discusses some of the history of green chemistry and how it relates to the broader sustainability fields.
John Warner is one of the founders of the field of green chemistry. He wrote the book that provides the definition and 12 principles of green chemistry with Paul Anastas in 1998. As an industrial chemist, he has over 330 patents and has worked with hundreds of companies worldwide. As an academic, he was full professor of chemistry and full professor of plastics engineering at UMASS where he started the world's first PhD program in Green Chemistry. Last year, he received the August Wilhelm von Hofman Medal from the German Chemical Society and in 2004 the Presidential Award for excellence in science mentoring from the NSF and President George W. Bush.
John's inventions have led to the founding of many companies in the fields of Photovoltaics, Neurochemistry, construction materials and cosmetics. In 2016 he received the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadorship. John is a member of the Club of Rome, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Monash University in Australia, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, and Honorary Professor of Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin where they have named the "John Warner Center for Start Ups in Green Chemistry".
Dr. James Kaufman, the founder of the Lab Safety Institute, spoke at the CP Lab Safety Speaker Series about the importance of lab safety. He emphasized the need to educate and convince others to take lab safety seriously. The Lab Safety Institute, a non-profit organization, has educated over 100,000 individuals in more than 30 countries over the past 45 years. Dr. Kaufman discussed various actions and ideas to improve lab safety programs, highlighting the long-term commitment required for continuous improvement. He addressed the cycle of ignorance, where safety is not adequately taught in schools, leading to a lack of safety knowledge and ethics among students who eventually become teachers. Dr. Kaufman shared personal experiences and emphasized the need for comprehensive lab safety guidelines.