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Robert T. Haslam (1911) Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Emeritus, and the Deshpande Center Faculty Director, Emeritus. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemical Engineering from MIT. After a short post-doc in pharmaceutical manufacturing at the Squibb Institute for Medical Research, he joined the faculty of MIT as an Assistant Professor in 1970 and as a full Professor since 1982. He serves as a consultant to and/or director of a number of Biotech and Pharmaceutical companies and is on several editorial boards of professional journals.

Cooney’s research interests span a range of topics in biochemical engineering and pharmaceutical manufacturing including: computer control of biological processes, downstream processing for product recovery, bioreactor design, continuous manufacturing and mixing of dry powders. The central philosophy underlying his research is the use of a multidisciplinary approach to the development of advanced manufacturing technologies for the biochemical process industry.

Among his awards and distinctions, Professor Cooney was nominated Founding Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering; received the Gold Medal from the Institute of Biotechnological Studies; received the James Van Lanen Award for Distinguished Service to the Division of Microbial and Biochemical Technology of the American Chemical Society; and received the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Professor Cooney is a long-standing member in the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the American Chemical Society and the Division of Microbial and Biochemical Technology; the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division of the AIChE; the American Society for Microbiology and the Fermentation and Biotechnology Division of the ASM; the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering; and the Society for Industrial and Microbiology.