Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) associate professor Nigel Reuel has been named the Stanley Chair in Interdisciplinary Engineering.

The endowed chair and accompanying funding is made possible by Richard H. and Mary Jo Stanley. It was established to encourage the commitment to the concepts and practice of interactive interdisciplinary work in Iowa State’s College of Engineering.

Richard Stanley, who passed away in 2017, was an electrical engineering and mechanical engineering alumnus of Iowa State. He was founder of Stanley Consultants in Muscatine, Iowa, which provides engineering, environmental and construction services worldwide. He was a recipient of the Anson Marston Medal, the highest honor in Iowa State’s College of Engineering.

Reuel, who is director of graduate education in CBE, joined the department as an assistant professor in 2016. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Brigham Young University in 2009 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014.

At Iowa State his research interests include contact-free sensors, biomanufacturing, and new measurement tool design. He has helped spin out three companies from his Iowa State work: Skroot Laboratory for therapeutic cell production, Zymosense, Inc. for enzyme discovery tools, and Frugi Biotechnology Inc. focused on rapid protein prototyping for drug discovery (acquired by BigHat Biosciences Inc. in 2022). He was promoted to associate professor in 2021. Among honors he has received are a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2021.

As Stanley Chair, Reuel will take leadership in activities that promote student and faculty competency in interdisciplinary engineering practice; will lead in developing courses and curricula in the College of Engineering which are interdisciplinary and interdepartmental in nature; and support and encourage ethical and professional engineering practice, among other expectations.