RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill and William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at N.C. State University and of Chemistry at UNC, has been named director of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at UNC-Chapel Hill.
DeSimone replaces John D. Kasarda, who served in the position for 22 years.
“We are very pleased to welcome Joseph DeSimone to the Kenan Institute,” said James W. Dean Jr., dean of UNC Kenan-Flagler in the university's announcement. “He is a world-renowned scholar in his field. As an innovative entrepreneur, he is applying his research to design novel nanomedicines for cancer therapy and to improve vaccines and drug delivery mechanisms.
He is the perfect leader to continue the institute’s cutting-edge research and collaboration with business and communities to create positive local and global change.”
DeSimone said he is "thrilled" about the opportunity.
"We are uniquely positioned to leverage the intellectual capital we have right here on campus, join it with some of the best and brightest minds from around the globe, and develop innovative market-based solutions to some of the most pressing global challenges of our time, including poverty, health, education, energy, sustainable development and economic growth," DeSimone said in the statement.
DeSimone is a profilic author, researcher, and inventor, with130 patents and more than 100 patents pending.
He has been honored extensively by the academy with appointments to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
The Kenan Institute, part of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, pursues cutting-edge research, educational programs and public policy initiatives in the areas of entrepreneurship, economic development and global competitiveness
For more information on DeSimone's background and the work of Kenan-Flagler, visit www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu
