Dr. Theresa (Guiton) Kotanchek (Ph.D. ’91, Materials Science M.S., B.S., Ceramic Science) has been selected to receive the 2006 GEMS Alumni Achievement Award. This is the highest recognition given by GEMS, the Alumni Society of Penn State’s College of Earth and Minerals Sciences.

Theresa is currently the Asia Pacific R&D Technology Director for Dow Chemical Company, a >$40 billion multinational company. In this role she is one of the top five technical leaders reporting to the CTO/CEO of Dow Chemical. She has moved to Shanghai, China to provide leadership for the entire Asia Pacific Technology sector. This includes establishing Corporate Centers of Excellence in China and India, where she will set technology strategy and priorities while establishing external alliances and partnerships. Theresa is also a member of the Corporate R&D Leadership Council, Basic & Performance Business Management Teams and the China Country Management Team.

Before this promotion, Theresa was the Global Research and Development Director for Ventures. In this role, she provided global technical leadership for Dowpharma and AEM businesses. In addition, Theresa was accountable for the identification, evaluation and implementation of strategic technologies and capabilities enabling rapid commercialization of new business growth platforms.

Prior to being named Global Researc h and Development Director for Ventures, Theresa served as Senior Director of Technology for Dow’s Growth Center and also held positions at Dow Chemical as Director of INSITE* Technology and Growth for the Polyolefins and Elastomers (PO&E) business group. There she led the global PO&E R&D organization responsible for new technology, including the Chemistry & Advanced Process Research and Materials Science laboratories, and new application development, including Dow Fiber Solutions, Hygiene & Medical and New Business Growth.

Theresa has been actively engaged with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering for many years and is a member of our External Advisory Support Board.