Benny D. Freeman

Benny is the William J. (Bill) Murray Endowed Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor of Chemical Engineering and has been a faculty member for 35 years (1989-present). 

He completed graduate training in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Ph.D. in 1988. In 1988 and 1989, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI), Laboratoire Physico-Chimie Structurale et Macromoléculaire in Paris, France. 

Benny's research is in polymer science and engineering and, more specifically, in mass transport of small molecules in solid polymers. He currently directs 19 Ph.D. students, 4 postdoctoral fellows, 2 visiting scientist,  1 research affiliate, and co-directs 1 polymer synthesis scientist, performing fundamental research in gas and liquid separations using polymer membranes. 

His research group focuses on structure/property correlation development for desalination and gas separation membrane materials, such as new materials for water/ion separation, hydrogen separation, natural gas purification, and carbon capture. His group also studies new materials for improving fouling resistance and permeation performance of liquid separation membranes.

Benny's research is described in 533 publications and 24 issued U.S. and international patents. He has co-edited 5 books. 

Benny has won a number of awards, including the Billy & Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award (2024), AIChE Materials Engineering & Sciences Division Braskem Award for Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering (2023), AIChE Separations Division Founders Award (2022), being in the first class of NAMS Fellows (2017), Fulbright Distinguished Chair (2016-17), PMSE Distinguished Service Award (2015), Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award from The University of Texas at Austin (2013), AIChE Clarence (Larry) G. Gerhold Award (2013), Society of Plastics Engineers International Award (2013), Roy W. Tess Award in Coatings from the PMSE Division of ACS (2012), ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science (2009), AIChE Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology (2008), and the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program Project of the Year (2001). 

Benny is a Fellow of the AAAS, AIChE, ACS, and the PMSE and IECR Divisions of ACS. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology (TAMEST). He has served as chair of the PMSE Division of the ACS, chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Membranes: Materials and Processes, President of the North American Membrane Society, chair of the Membranes Area of the Separations Division of the AIChE, and as Chair of the Separations Division of AIChE. He is a co-founder of NALA Membranes, Inc. 

• Curriculum Vitae

• Department Profile

• Elsevier Polymer Editor-in-Chief

• YouTube Channel

• Researcher ID's

  • ORCiD ID, 0000-0003-2779-7788
  • Web of Science (WoS) Researcher ID, G-5405-2016
  • Scopus Author Identifier, 55859868200
  • Google Scholar Profile
    • Polymers, membrane separation, polymer science, membrane science