David S Sholl
Executive Director and Vice Provost, University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute
Bio
David Sholl is the Executive Director and Vice Provost for the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII). More information about UT-ORII is available at utorii.com. David also leads ORNL’s Transformational Decarbonization Initiative. From 2013-2021 David was the School Chair of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. In 2022-2023, he was a Portfolio Strategy Advisor for DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), where he was the lead author OCED’s inaugural multiyear program plan. He is a Fellow of AIChE and AAAS and in 2024 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Sholl has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and several books, including Density Functional Theory: A Practical Introduction (with Jan Steckel, 2009) and Success and Creativity in Scientific Research: Amaze Your Friends and Surprise Yourself (2021). His research has primarily focused on using materials modeling methods to develop new materials and processes for chemical separations and energy applications. He has advised over 80 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
Awards
- Member, US National Academy of Engineering (2024)
- Georgia Tech Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development (2024)
- Georgia Tech Curriculum Innovation Award [jointly with several faculty from Georgia Tech] (2022)
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2020)
- Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineering (2019)
- Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology, American Institute of Chemical Engineering (2018)
- “Highly Prolific Author” recognition, Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2017)
- AIChE Gary Leach Award (2015)
- Early Career Achievement Award, Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum, AIChE (2010)
- DOE Hydrogen Program R&D Award (2008)
- Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2002)
- Alfred P. Sloan fellow (2001-2003)
- George Tallman Ladd Award for Excellence in Research, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University (2000)
- University Medal, Australian National University (1991).