As an engineer and as a teacher, Ku-yen Li is
changing the world. He works with industry in
his hometown and around the world to produce
chemicals that are safer, better for the environment
and more cost-effective. And he is passing his
expertise and devotion to the field of chemical engineering
to generations of Lamar students.
“I am amazed at the influence of education, and I
also feel proud of our students,” Li said. “For example,
a student changed the traditional insulin injection into
mouth dosage by using molecular diffusion theory he
had learned from my class.”
As a professor in the Dan F. Smith Department of
Chemical Engineering, Li has served Lamar University
more than 30 years. Lamar honored him as the 2009
University Professor, the university’s most prestigious
faculty honor, awarded for life to recognize an outstanding
senior professor for academic excellence.
President James Simmons conferred the medallion of
University Professor presented “as a lasting symbol of
this high honor and esteemed title.”
Soon after accepting the medallion, he was off
to Taiwan where he is leading a “flare minimization”
research group to work with the chemical industry
in the Asia-Pacific area, including Taiwan, Malaysia
and China, to promote safety, economic and environmental
impacts. He is doing so under a one-year
developmental leave.
Li has worked with the United States chemical
industry on flare minimization for many years, presenting
the results at international conferences. “Several
chemical companies in Asia showed their interests,”
he said. “I believe the experiences here will benefit
the U.S. chemical industry.”
Li selected National Cheng-Kung University as a
base for the research because it is his alma mater. He
was born and educated in Taiwan before coming to the
United States, where he earned his Ph.D. from
Mississippi State University. His interests lie in both
fundamental theory and industry applications.
“I love molecules (chemicals), reaction and
purification, which is the heart of the chemical
engineering field,” he said.
Li was department chair for seven years, led
the effort to gain Lamar’s only Ph.D. program,
worked to maintain accreditation from ABET Inc.
(formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology) and guided the master’s program
to national prominence.
He and his fellow investigators have received
more than $2.6 million in external funding for
20 projects. These funds have supported dozens of
graduate students.
“His touch of excellence is
apparent throughout the chemical
engineering program in the
courses he has taught, the leadership
he has provided, the faculty
he has hired, the research he has
conducted, the relations he has
cultivated with industry and, in
big ways and small, the students
he has educated,” said Stephen
Doblin, provost and vice president
for academic affairs.
Li has supervised almost 50
graduate students and has advised
and directed hundreds of undergraduates.
Last year, Li received a
two-year National Science
Foundation teaching grant to
improve Lamar’s chemical engineering
curriculum and align it
with industry practices.
His honors include the
Outstanding Educator Award
from the American Institute of
Chemical Engineering, Texas-
Sabine Section; the Amoco
Outstanding Teaching Award;
and the University Teaching
Excellence Award from Lamar. Li
is a long-standing member of the
American Institute of Chemical
Engineering, holding several
offices. He is a member of the
American Chemical Society, Blue
Key, Sigma Xi, The Scientific
Research Society and Phi Tau Phi
Scholastic Honor Society of
America. His wife, Sherry, retired
from Texaco and is an instructor
of chemistry at Lamar. They have
two children, Joey, 32, and
Joanna, 26.
“Dr. Li is an outstanding
professor who has devoted his
entire career to Lamar University,”
said T.C. Ho, chair and professor
of chemical engineering. “He is
recognized as an effective and
knowledgeable instructor who sets
high standards and is remembered
by his students long after they
graduate.”
