Georges Belfort Russell Sage Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

A world leader in bioseparations, Belfort is honored by the American Chemical Society

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Georges Belfort has been recognized for his fundamental and applied research of separations processes in biochemical engineering.

Belfort, the Russell Sage Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer, in recent weeks received the 2011 Alan S. Michaels Award in the Recovery of Biological Products from the American Chemical Society (ACS) Biotechnology Division.

The award recognizes “outstanding research and practice contributions toward the advancement of science and technology for the recovery of biological products,” according to the ACS. As part of the award, Belfort will be honored in March at the ACS annual conference in Anaheim, Calif., where he will deliver an award lecture.

“We applaud and congratulate Dr. Belfort for this well-earned and richly deserved honor from the ACS,” said David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer. “In addition to his renown as a global authority on bioseparations and the behavior of biological molecules at solid interfaces, Georges’ inherent kindness and vigilant pursuit of excellence leave a lasting impression on his peers, colleagues, students, and everyone with whom he interacts. This award recognizes and celebrates the impact of Professor Belfort’s stellar career.”

Belfort has earned a place among the world’s most respected academic and industrial chemical engineers. Throughout his career, he has made seminal contributions in liquid-phase pressure-driven membrane-based processes, bioseparations engineering, interfacial science, and affinity separations.

The editor or co-editor of three books, Belfort has published more than 185 peer-reviewed papers and 22 book chapters. His h factor, a key metric for academic researchers that measures both productivity and the impact of published research, is greater than 40. He serves on the editorial board of several international journals and is the international editor of the Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan. Belfort also lectures widely in both academic and industrial settings and is an active consultant in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

In 2008, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) named Belfort one of the “100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era.” Also in 2008, he received the ACS E.V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Other major awards given to Belfort include the AIChE Clarence Gerhold Award in Separation Science and Technology in 2000, and the ACS Award in Separation Science and Technology in 1995.

Belfort is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is co-founder and former president of the North American Membrane Society, and has twice been named a fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science.

Belfort received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of California at Irvine.

For more information on Belfort’s research at Rensselaer, visit:

• Quantum Biology: Powerful Computer Models Reveal Key Biological Mechanism
• Sticky Surfaces Turn Slippery With the Flip of a Molecular Light Switch
• Georges Belfort Honored with ACS Murphree Award
• Georges Belfort Elected to the National Academy of Engineering