Liquidia Founder Elected into National Academy of Sciences

Liquidia Technologies today announced its founder, Dr. Joseph DeSimone, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for his excellence in original scientific research in the field of chemical engineering. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Among the renowned NAS members are Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright, and Alexander Graham Bell. Nearly 200 living Academy members have won Nobel Prizes. Dr. DeSimone will be inducted into the Academy next April during its 150th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

“Joe’s scientific contributions across several diverse industries is nothing short of impressive and his election into the National Academy of Sciences is rare and well deserved honor,” said Neal Fowler, CEO of Liquidia Technologies, “Joe’s innovation and vision lie at the foundation of what we do at Liquidia and are the impetus behind a technology that is revolutionizing the development of healthcare products for a global population.”

Dr. DeSimone is Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill and William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University. He is also an adjunct member at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Dr. DeSimone has received over 40 major awards and recognitions including the 2010 AAAS Mentor Award, the 2009 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the 2008 Lemelson-MIT Prize. In 2005 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. DeSimone has published more than 280 scientific articles and has 130 patents to his name with over 120 patents pending. He received his B.S. in chemistry in 1986 from Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, and his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1990 from Virginia Tech.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furthering science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Established in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences has served to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" whenever called upon to do so by any department of the government.