Joseph M. DeSimone, chief executive officer and co-founder of Carbon, will receive Virginia Tech’s 2016 University Distinguished Achievement Award.

The award, which is presented each year at University Commencement, recognizes achievements of national distinction in any field of enduring significance to society.

Later this month, DeSimone will be honored by President Obama with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. That award recognizes people who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life while helping strengthen the nation’s technological workforce.

DeSimone earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Tech in 1990. He has published more than 300 scientific articles and been issued more than 150 patents, with more than 100 patents pending. He is one of fewer than 20 individuals who have been elected to all three branches of the National Academies: the National Academy of Medicine (2014), the National Academy of Sciences (2012), and the National Academy of Engineering (2005). He also is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005).

DeSimone has received more than 50 major awards and recognitions. They include the 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award, which recognized his efforts to advance diversity in the chemistry workforce. In 2002, DeSimone was awarded the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium by the Board of Directors of City Trusts of Philadelphia, which is presented to individuals whose inventions improve the comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind.

Carbon, which is based in Redwood City, California, focuses on advancing the 3-D printing industry into manufacturing. While working with his company, DeSimone is currently on leave from his roles as the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry and the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

DeSimone and his wife, Suzanne, reside in Monte Sereno, California.

Written by Rich Polikoff

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