Dr. Donald Paul has established himself as a leading chemical engineering educator and program director throughout more than five decades of his career. His interests in chemical engineering took shape during his high school years and it helped to inform his decision to work in academia to help inspire upcoming generations. He carved his path in this respect by first earning a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State College in 1961 and then a Master of Science from the University of Wisconsin in 1963. From there, he received a PhD in 1965.

Since 2001, Dr. Paul has served as the Ernest Cockrell Senior Chair of Engineering at the University of Texas He has worked as a professor, associate and assistant, throughout more than five decades of his career. Furthermore, from 1998 to 2008, he served as the Director of the Texas Materials Institute at the University of Texas. In addition, he has served as the Director for the Center for Polymer Research at the University of Texas, the Regents Chair for Chemical Engineering, and a variety of other roles. Early in his career, Dr. Paul taught at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, and served as a chemical engineering researcher at the Chemstrand Research Center and the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company.

The highlight of Dr. Paul’s career was working with some very bright students and helping them do good research and publish it as well as go on to a good careers, which is the beautiful part of it. Looking toward the future, Dr. Paul hopes to continue teaching as he loves teaching, and also conducting research on membranes and water purification. His research interests are grounded in the developed materials for the application and developed theories for reverse osmosis and for electrical dialysis where salt is passed through the membrane opposed to water. Dr. Paul is recognized as one of the longest-serving professors at his institution and has no plans on slowing down.