Dr. Joseph DeSimone is a distinguished innovator and leader in advanced materials science and manufacturing technologies, currently serving as the Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. Prior to joining Stanford in 2020, he held joint appointments as Chancellor's Eminent Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University. A first-generation college student who discovered his passion for chemistry at Ursinus College, he earned his B.S. in Chemistry in 1986 and completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Virginia Tech in 1990, immediately joining the faculty at UNC where he established an internationally recognized research program. His unique career trajectory seamlessly integrates academic scholarship with entrepreneurial ventures, positioning him as a transformative figure who bridges fundamental scientific discovery with industrial application.
Dr. DeSimone has pioneered multiple groundbreaking technologies across diverse fields, most notably co-inventing Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS™) technology that revolutionized industrial 3D printing through his co-founding of Carbon in 2013. His earlier work in green chemistry developed an environmentally friendly manufacturing process using supercritical carbon dioxide instead of water for creating fluoropolymers, earning him the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 1997. He also created the PRINT® (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) technology for precisely engineered nanocarriers, which forms the foundation for Liquidia Technologies, a company he co-founded to develop targeted delivery systems for therapeutics. With over 350 scientific publications and more than 200 issued patents, his technological innovations have significantly advanced fields ranging from medical devices to advanced manufacturing processes, enabling companies to break free of traditional production methods.
Recognized with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Obama in 2016, Dr. DeSimone stands among the elite few elected to all three branches of the U.S. National Academies (Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering), solidifying his status as one of America's most accomplished scientists. His commitment to fostering diversity in STEM is evident through his mentorship of 80 doctoral students, half of whom are women and members of underrepresented groups. Currently serving on the board of trustees of the National Geographic Society since 2020, he continues to bridge disciplines through his translational medicine work at Stanford, focusing on applying advanced manufacturing techniques to address pressing medical challenges. His ongoing research promises to further transform how medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products are designed and manufactured, cementing his legacy as a visionary who consistently translates laboratory discoveries into real-world solutions that impact millions.
