Alum Jean-Louis Salager Internationally Recognized for Advancements in Surfactant Chemistry

Jean-Louis Salager in a button-down shirt and sports coat. He's wearing thin-rimmed glasses and has thinning white hair and a goatee.Texas ChE alum Jean-Louis Salager (Ph.D. ChE ’75 and postdoc ‘77-’78) has received The Samuel Rosen Memorial Award from the American Oil Chemists’ Society, an international honor that recognizes a surfactant chemist for significant advancements or application of surfactant chemistry principles.

Salager is one of only two academic recipients in the award’s 29-year history. He is the founder and former director of the Laboratory of Formulation, Interfaces, Rheology and Processes (FIRP) at University of The Andes, Mérida, Venezuela where he has also been teaching since 1970. Today, FIRP has more than 20 faculty members across chemical engineering, chemistry and pharmacy.

He also founded the university’s School of Chemical Engineering and Process Engineering Graduate Program, from which he now holds the title of Emeritus Professor. Salager’s publications include 20 book chapters, seven patents and over 250 scientific papers on the formulation of surfactant systems, micro-, macro, and nano-emulsions and foams for various applications. Salager served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents and regional editor for Latin America’s Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology.

Currently, he is a consultant and instructor in formulation engineering for petroleum, food, paint, cosmetic and personal care products and has taught 250 courses in 14 countries.

Originally from Montpellier, France, Salager is a former student of Texas ChE and Texas PGE’s beloved Professor Bob Schechter who passed away in 2014. Salager’s dedication and international accolades are a testament to Dr. Schechter who was known as a great advocate for students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.

Other inspiring awards Salager has received in Venezuela include: The Simón Bolivar Academic Accomplishment (FAPUV 1997), the highest academic award in Venezuela; the National Scientific Prize in Technological Research (CONICIT 1997), the highest scientific award in Venezuela, presented by the President of the country; the annual Award for the Best Technological Research (FUNDACITE 2002); the Annual Prize in Chemistry of the Venezuelan Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (2003). He was also elected a member of the Latin America Academy of Sciences in 2002 and is ranked by Google Scholar Profile as the #2 top scientist living in Venezuela.

Learn more about Jean-Louis Salager and his career in his own words through this Q&A published last month.

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