Skip to Main Content U.S. Department of Energy
Chemical Transformations Initiative
Dr. Thomas Degnan
Dr. Thomas Degnan
Tony and Sarah Earley Professor of Energy and the Environment
Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of Notre Dame

Dr. Degnan has 38-years of industrial R&D experience. Thirty-four of those years were spent in the central/corporate research or process research laboratories of major international petroleum companies (Mobil and then ExxonMobil). His principal expertise is in heterogenous catalysis. He was involved in the development of quite a few industrial catalytic processes during my career with Mobil, ExxonMobil, and with 3M Company before that. Several of these processes were aimed at mitigating emissions (NOx via SCR) or SOx removal. For the last six years of his career, he was the Breakthrough and New Leads Manager for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering. In this capacity, Dr. Degnan was involved in working with small- and medium-sized companies, as well as many major universities to identify novel, very high value (NPV > $250M) opportunities for the refining and petrochemical businesses. He was also the key technical and scientific liaison (and interface) between ExxonMobil and Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP).

At the end of his career with ExxonMobil, he was involved in the development of the Corporation's strategy for university Energy Center Engagement and for the negotiation of collaborations and sponsorships with several major universities (the contract with MIT's Energy Initiative was announced in October). He has a longstanding interest in energy efficiency; many of the programs launched though the Breakthrough effort were focused on environmental mitigation as well as energy efficiency opportunities.

The major attributes Dr. Degnan bring to the team is having an insider's perspective from the commercial aspect and having developed an extensive network of colleagues in the energy arena. His main interest, however, remains in the area of catalysis. he has experience in all aspects of catalysis from fundamental scientific research, to exploratory research, to development, and finally in commercialization.

Education
M.B.A., Finance and Management, University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Notre Dame

Chemical Transformations Initiative

Resources

Communications