Dr. Rajiv M. Banavali presented our 18th Annual Distinguished Alumni Lecture in May, 2005. He received his Ph.D degree here in 1985 under the direction of Bob Murray. He was the last postdoctoral fellow to work with Professor Paul Bartlett at Texas Christian University and began his industrial chemistry career with Rohm and Haas in Houston in 1987 as a process chemist. In 1992 he became the Manager of the R&D for Primene amines and in 2000, he took on the additional responsibilities for the Dyes and Markers businesses and moved to Philadelphia with the company in. e later became the global R&D director for the Inorganic Specialties business in addition to his previous responsibilities and in 2004, he was named the Global research manager for Organic Specialties and Ion Exchange. He moved to Honeywell in 2009 and spent 10 years there rising to Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He also spent two years at Huntsman Corporation in Singapore, serving as Global Vice President, Research and Technology, before retiring in 2020 as Senior Vice President, Science and Innovation, with WestRock Co in Atlanta. Rajiv met his wife Marysusan when she was a student here and taking Chemistry classes. Marysusan is a graduate of the School of Education at UMSL. He continues to serve as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Council at UMSL.
Dr. Rajiv M. Banavali (Ph.D. 1985)
