Jeetain Mittal named 2014 Sloan Research Fellow

Jeetain Mittal, P. C. Rossin Assistant Professor of chemical engineering, has been named a 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Chemistry. It’s the second significant early-career honor for Mittal in just over three months; in late November 2013, he was named to yet another prestigious post -- the Allan P. Colburn Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
“We believe Jeetain is one of the most prolific and creative young molecular modelers in the chemical sciences today, and we’re delighted that his work is being recognized in this manner,” says Mayuresh Kothare, R. L. McCann Professor and Chair of chemical engineering.
Mittal was recognized by both organizations for his work in the area of molecular modeling of various biological phenomena such as unfolding of intrinsically disordered proteins, DNA and carbon nanotube interactions and effect of confinement on stability of proteins.
“Jeetain has authored more than 45 peer-reviewed articles, 24 of which came in his first three years as an assistant professor,” Kothare says. “His lab, the Biomatter and Soft Physics Group, continues to make important contributions to challenging and fundamental problems of interest in the chemical and biomolecular sciences, including new molecular models that can accurately account for protein-solvent interactions missed by other commonly used methods.”
According to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, its Fellowships, awarded annually since 1955, are granted to “early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders.” Since the beginning of the program, 42 Sloan Fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their fields, 16 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, 13 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics, and 63 have received the National Medal of Science. (For a complete list of Sloan Fellows, visit: www.sloan.org/sloan-research-fellowships/2014-sloan-research-fellows.)
Mittal is only the second Lehigh faculty member to receive the Sloan Fellowship, with Tianbo Liu of Lehigh’s chemistry department receiving the honor in 2008. The AIChE’s Colburn Award, one of the most highly-regarded for young chemical engineers nationally, “encourages excellence in publications by a younger member of the Institute.”