William D. Smart Seminars
In 2005, the William D. Smart Seminar Series in Chemistry was established at the University of West Florida thanks to an endowment gift of $100,000 from William and Mary Smart of Pensacola. The endowment allows the Department of Chemistry to host distinguished scientists to campus to present and discuss cutting-edge scientific research.
Smart Seminars in Chemistry
In 2005, the William D. Smart Seminar Series in Chemistry was established at the University of West Florida thanks to an endowment gift of $100,000 from William and Mary Smart of Pensacola. The endowment allows the Department of Chemistry to host distinguished scientists on campus to present and discuss cutting-edge scientific research. In the last decade, we have hosted some of the most prominent chemists in the world. This list includes Sir Harry Kroto (1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry) and Sir Fraser Stoddart (2016 Nobel Prize in chemistry).
Dr. Lucian Boldea, President and CEO of Honeywell Industrial Automation
This year's speaker, Dr. Lucian Boldea was born in Romania and moved to the US at age 19 in 1990 to attend the University of West Florida. He graduated from UWF with a BS in Chemistry in 1992. He went on to the University of Florida where he graduated with a PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1997. Additionally, he has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in corporate finance.
Upon graduating from UF, he joined Eastman Chemical as a development chemist and progressed through the ranks at Eastman, culminating with being named Executive Vice President in 2016, a position he held for six years. In 2022, he retired from Eastman and joined Honeywell International as President and CEO of Performance Materials and Technologies, a $12B division employing 22,000 people globally. In January 2024, he was named President and CEO of Honeywell Industrial Automation, a position he holds currently. The business is dedicated to the transition from automation to autonomous operations. He is responsible for $11B of revenue and a team of 33,000 employees, and 72 factories around the world.
Dr. Boldea is a member of the board of directors of the American Chemistry Council, as well as a member of the board of directors of the US China Business Council, a group of 50 US CEOs involved in the US-China trade relationship.
He is a published author in scientific chemistry journals, as well as holds two US patents. He frequently writes for Forbes and other publications, and has been featured in numerous publications and media interviews related to sustainability, energy transition, artificial intelligence, and autonomous operations. He is an active participant in the World Economic Forum (Davos), ADIPEC, COP, and other global energy forums. A father of three grown sons, he and his wife currently reside in Houston, TX.
Future Speakers
To be announced.
| Year | Speaker and Topic |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Professor Steven P. Nolan, Ghent University |
| 2023 | Dr. Angela K. Wilson, Michigan State University |
| 2023 | Dr. Karen L. Wooley, Texas A&M University (Polymer) |
| 2019 | Dr. Jeffrey S. Moore, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Materials) |
| 2018 | Dr. Richard D. McCollough, Harvard University (Materials) |
| 2017 | Dr. Monica Olvera de la Cruz, Northwestern University (Inorganic) |
| 2016 | Dr. John Hartwig, University of California, Berkeley (Organic) |
| 2015 | Dr. Anthony J. Ryan, OBE, University of Sheffield (Polymers) |
| 2014 | Dr. Geraldine L. Richmond, University of Oregon (Organic) |
| 2011 | Dr. Ken Raymond, University of California (Inorganic) |
| 2011 | Dr. Michael Summers, University of Maryland (Organic) |
| 2010 | Dr. Daniel Nocera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Materials) |
| 2009 | Sir Fraser Stoddart, Northwestern University (Inorganic) |
| 2007 | Sir Harry Kroto, Florida State University (Inorganic) |
