Steven Cramer, professor in the Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named Institute Professor, one of the highest and most prestigious honors bestowed upon a Rensselaer faculty member.

He also has been named to McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers at the University of Texas Austin, the department’s highest honor. He is only the second non-alumnus to receive that distinction.

“I congratulate Steve for the trifecta — his recent election to the NAE, his elevation to the Institute Professor title, and his election to the University of Texas Austin’s Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers,” said Shekhar Garde, dean of the School of Engineering. “It is a reflection of Steve’s impressive research, his contributions to the mentoring of generations of students, and his impact on the biotechnology industry. And, Steve is not only a great scientist, but also an exceptional jazz pianist,” Garde added. “ I have enjoyed collaborating with Steve on both science and music.”

Cramer is a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, and also serves as a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Brown University, and completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering at Yale University. Cramer joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995, and in 2007 was named the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering.

Cramer is one of the recognized leaders in chromatographic bioprocessing worldwide. For over 36 years, the Cramer lab’s research has had a dramatic impact on state-of-the-art downstream bioprocessing and its successful implementation for the biomanufacturing of biological products. His lab is currently conducting research on several areas related to protein-surface interactions and molecular bioprocessing.

Their development of models of various classes of bio-chromatography have been widely employed in academic research and have been utilized worldwide by the biotechnology industry. The Cramer lab was one of the first to employ high-throughput screening and machine learning for developing chromatographic bioprocesses, which have had a significant impact on the way bioprocess development is now carried out in the industry. The Cramer lab’s multidisciplinary work using a combination of biophysics, molecular dynamics simulations, and chromatography with protein and ligand libraries has provided significant insights into the design of novel multimodal chromatographic systems. In addition, recent work on integrated biomanufacturing and expedited process development is having a major impact on how bioprocess development is carried out in the industry. The Cramer lab is now actively involved in several new activities including gene therapy downstream biomanufacturing projects, continuous mRNA processing, and big data modeling efforts.

Cramer has won numerous awards including the ACS National Award in Separations Science and Technology, the ACS BIOT Division’s Michaels Award in the Recovery of Biological Products, and several awards from RPI including the Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award and the School of Engineering Outstanding Professor and Research Excellence Awards. In addition, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2023 and is an elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. A prolific researcher, Cramer holds 11 patents and has published more than 230 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He also served as editor-in-chief of the international journal Separation Science and Technology for 20 years.

Importantly, the 55 Ph.D. graduates from the Cramer lab have had a significant impact with many of his former students now playing key leadership roles in industrial bioprocessing at most of the major biopharmaceutical and bioseparations companies worldwide, as well as academia.