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Herman and George R. Brown Professor
BS: Michigan State University, 1972 MS: University of Illinois, 1974 PhD: University of Illinois, 1977 Room 334, Lindy Boggs Center Phone: (504) 862-8929 |
The Tulane University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering happily welcomes the appointment of Dr. Lawrence R. Pratt as the Herman and George R. Brown Chair in Chemical Engineering as of January 2008. Dr. Pratt conducts research in thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics, with applications in solution thermodynamics, biological thermodynamics, interfacial and assembled systems, super-capacitors for electrical energy storage, and charge transport in solution, ion channels, and fuel cell membranes.
Dr. Pratt grew up in Flint, Michigan, attending Michigan State University where he obtained his Bachelors Degree (1972). He subsequently obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1977), followed by a post-doctoral appointment at Harvard University. Prior to joining Tulane University in 2008, he held appointments in Chemistry at the University of California Berkeley and as a Technical Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
To date, Dr. Pratt has authored 130 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and presented over 150 invited lectures. He has made ground-breaking contributions in the understanding of the immiscibility of oil and water, beginning with the inceptive paper “Theory of the Hydrophobic Effect” (Journal of Chemical Physics 1977), commonly referred to as Pratt-Chandler Theory. He has organized international symposia and workshops on a wide range of topics, including: electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic phenomena, and hydration. Most recently he has coauthored the monograph “The Potential Distribution Theorem and Models of Molecular Solutions” (Cambridge University Press 2006). Dr. Pratt has wide ranging collaborations, and a number of his former students and post-doctoral advises have gone on to research positions in Federal Laboratories as well as faculty appointments in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering departments. Dr. Pratt’s contributions to thermodynamics and liquid state theory have earned him an international reputation for scientific excellence befitting his appointment as the Herman and George R. Brown Chair in Chemical Engineering.
The Brown Chair was created by The Brown Foundation to support and advance Tulane University's teaching and research in chemical engineering. The Brown Foundation was established in 1951 by Margrett Root Brown, Herman Brown, Alice Pratt Brown, and George R. Brown. Herman and George Brown were chief officers of Brown and Root, Inc., one of the world’s largest construction and engineering firms. Through the Herman and George R. Brown Chair in Chemical Engineering, the Brown Foundation has enabled Tulane University to make a distinguished and lasting addition to its engineering faculty and thus to the quality of its teaching and research. Past holders of this chair are Dr. Richard Gonzalez (1990 – 2005) and Dr. Yunfeng Lu (2005 – 2006).
| Lawrence R. Pratt | Research Interests | Recent Publications | Teaching | Laboratory |