Martha Grover Named Thomas A. Fanning Chair in Equity Centered Engineering

School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) faculty member Martha Grover has been named the College’s Thomas A. Fanning Chair in Equity Centered Engineering. Grover was selected for her efforts to educate engineers who approach their work with an intent to close societal gaps of wealth, power, and privilege by ensuring equitable access to opportunity.

The endowed position was established via the Southern Company Foundation by Southern Company, which has been regularly recognized for its efforts to promote an organizational culture that ensures representation of all groups. Fanning recently retired as chairman, president, and CEO.

Grover is a systems engineer whose work addresses the complexity of molecular organization and how it can solve complicated grand challenges. For instance, she has worked with the Department of Energy for 10 years to create processes for separation and immobilization of millions of gallons of liquid nuclear waste at the Hanford Site in Washington and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. She’s developed real-time process monitoring of nuclear waste slurries to increase throughput and enhance safety.

Grover’s research also focuses on the origins of life and understanding the essential role of diversity and cooperation. Her other work includes modeling and engineering the self-assembly of atoms and small molecules to create larger scale structures and complex functionality.