Six exceptional alumni have been selected as recipients of 2026 Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Alumni Achievement Awards. These awards are given in recognition of professional distinction through outstanding leadership, contributions to the field, creativity and entrepreneurship as well as service to society, the professional community, and the department, college or university. Awardees will be recognized at the ChBE Alumni Awards Ceremony in October.
This year's winners are:
Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award:
Ronald E. Corn (BS 79)
For visionary leadership in advancing the petrochemical industry, including directing more than $6 billion in transformative Gulf Coast manufacturing projects and overseeing global operations and supply chains.
Ronald E. Corn (BS 79) is a retired chemical industry executive whose career spanned more than four decades with Chevron, Chevron Chemical, and Chevron Phillips Chemical. An Illinois native and graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Corn began his career as a process engineer at Chevron’s Richmond, Calif., refinery before advancing through leadership roles in engineering, operations, project management, business development, and global operations. His work took him across the United States and Asia, including a leadership assignment in Singapore overseeing the company’s Asia business. As senior vice president of petrochemicals, he led Chevron Phillips Chemical’s olefins, natural gas liquids, and aromatics businesses and led the development and successful execution of major Gulf Coast manufacturing projects, including one of the first U.S. ethylene/polyethylene projects to take advantage of low-cost feedstocks resulting from the development of shale gas resources.
Since retiring in 2020, Corn has enjoyed travel and time with family as well as supporting philanthropies including St. Elmo Brady (Champaign-Urbana and Houston), YesPrep Pubic Charter Schools and Habitat for Humanity.
Douglas Lauffenburger (BS 75)
For pioneering leadership in biomolecular engineering and systems biology; for advancing quantitative approaches to understanding cellular behavior and disease; and for shaping modern biomedical research and education.
Douglas Lauffenburger is Ford Professor of Engineering in the Departments of Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was the founding Head of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, and served in that capacity from 1998 until 2019. He was recently selected as an Institute Professor, MIT's highest faculty honor. Lauffenburger received his B.S. degree from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1975) and his Ph.D. from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (1979), both in chemical engineering. Before joining MIT, he had previously been on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania (1979-1990) and Illinois (1991-1994).
Lauffenburger is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and a fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science and the American Scientific Affiliation. He has served as President of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Chair of the College of Fellows of American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering, on the Advisory Council for the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and as a co-author of the 2009 National Research Council report A New Biology for the 21st Century.
Joseph Sant’Angelo (BS 54)
For inventive leadership in chemical engineering, ranging from contributions to nuclear reactor design to the development of breathable fire‑extinguishing systems; and for a distinguished record of patented innovations with global impact.
Joseph Sant'Angelo (BS 54) is an inventor, researcher and product developer whose career spanned more than five decades in chemical engineering and advanced materials. His pioneering talent was evident even as a student, when his experiments in high-speed photography of heat transfer led to an American Institute of Chemical Engineers' award for best student research paper. That paper was later published in Chemical Engineering Progress and Scientific American. During his professional career, he held leadership and research positions with Celanese, the Atomic Energy Commission, Air Products and Chemicals, and PAC Polymers. His work contributed to technologies ranging from reactors for the USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, to flame-resistant PBI fibers used in aerospace and firefighting applications.
Throughout his career, Sant'Angelo's heart was always in research and development, and his lifelong innovations in technologies like liquid bandages and breathable fire-suppression systems resulted in more than 35 patents, many of which were commercialized.
Young Alumni Achievement Award:
Adam Ferrari (BS 05)
For founding and leading a rapidly growing domestic energy company; and for advancing innovation through visionary entrepreneurship and engineering excellence.
Adam Ferrari is the founder and CEO of Phoenix Energy, one of the fastest-growing oil and gas companies in the United States. Under his leadership, Phoenix has set numerous drilling records in North Dakota’s Bakken formation and became the first company to receive an effective S-1 registration statement from the SEC without previously having publicly traded common equity. His entrepreneurial approach combines innovative capital formation with disintermediation. Phoenix has raised more than $1.5 billion directly from retail investors and deployed that capital into domestic energy development, supporting American workers and local communities.
A chemical engineer, Ferrari graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and began his career with BP America.
Ferrari established the Phoenix Energy Scholarship for students pursuing energy-related fields and founded the Ferrari Foundation, supporting individuals affected by paralysis and health-science education.
A native of Illinois, he now lives in Newport Beach with his wife and two children.
Jaeyun Sung (MS 08, PhD 12)
For professional distinction at the intersection of computational biology, precision medicine, and translational science; and for impactful mentorship of emerging scientists.
Dr. Jaeyun Sung (MS 08, PhD 12) is a computational systems biologist and precision medicine researcher at Mayo Clinic, where he is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics and leads the Computational Precision Medicine & Surgery Laboratory. His research group specializes in high-throughput biomolecular data ("omics”) and medical imaging analysis, tackling clinically urgent challenges in a range of chronic conditions, including autoimmune inflammatory disorder, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer.
Sung earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2006) and an M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2012) from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Asia-Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics in South Korea and at Harvard Medical School before joining Mayo Clinic. His honors include selection as a Scialog Fellow by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and as a Diversity Scholar in the NIH/NIA CLEAR-AD U19 program.
Beyond his academic research, he serves as scientific advisor and patent licensor to Rheumasense Dx Inc., an early-stage precision medicine company working to improve care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and is Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Vice President of NaviNetics AI, a Mayo Clinic spin-off startup developing AI-guided software and robotics for neurosurgery. Across his academic and entrepreneurial work, Sung is committed to turning computational innovation into technology that improves patient care and shapes the future of precision medicine.
Amanda Urbanik (BS 07)
For technical leadership in the energy industry and contributing to the advancement of large-scale energy operations; and for exceptional support and service to the department.
Amanda Urbanik is a leader in the energy industry with nearly 20 years of experience at ExxonMobil. Over the course of her career, she has worked in roles spanning reservoir engineering, development planning, and operations, supporting projects across West Africa, Guyana, and the United States. She currently serves as U.S. Conventional Business Manager, working to develop long term strategies and maximize value for ExxonMobil's domestic conventional upstream business. She is known for her ability to bring together multidisciplinary teams, identify opportunities for long-term value creation, and translate technical insights into business results.
A proud Illini, Urbanik has remained actively connected to the University of Illinois since graduating with her B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 2007. In addition to her business responsibilities, she serves as ExxonMobil's University of Illinois Engagement Manager, leading the company's relationship with the university and supporting recruiting, alumni engagement, and partnerships that help connect students with future opportunities.
Urbanik lives in Texas with her husband, a fellow Illinois graduate, and their two daughters, ages eight and five.