Uma Chowdhry

Early life and education

Chowdhry was born in Mumbai, India in 1947. She received a Bachelor's degree in physics from Indian Institute of Science, Mumbai University in 1968 before coming to the United States. She received a Masters Degree in Science from Caltech in engineering science in 1970. After two years with Ford Motor Company, she entered MIT where she earned a Ph.D. in materials science in 1976.

Career

She joined DuPont in 1977 as a research scientist in Central Research & Development Department of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. By 1985 she had been promoted to Research Manager of Central Research. In 1987 she led DuPont's research effort in ceramic superconducting materials and developed a program that generated over 20 patents and 50 publications. In 1988 she became Laboratory Director of the Electronics group, and by 1991 was promoted to be its Director. The following year she was appointed Laboratory Director of the Jackson Laboratory for the Chemicals group. In 1993 she became R&D Director, Specialty Chemicals. In 1995 she became Business Director for Terathane Products, and 2 year later was promoted to Business Planning and Technology Director for Chemicals. In 1999 she was promoted to Director of DuPont Engineering Technology.

In 2003 she became senior vice president and Chief Science and Technology Officer of DuPont, responsible for the company's core research programs and the DuPont "APEX" portfolio of research programs including basic chemistry, materials science and biotechnology. She retired on 31 December 2010.

Her technical career specialized in the science of ceramic materials, including catalysts, proton conductors, superconductors and ceramic packaging for microelectronics. She and her husband, Vinay Chowdhry, live in Wilmington, Delaware.

Awards and recognition

For her contributions to the science of ceramics, Chowdhry was elected Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in 1989, where she chaired the Academy's Emerging Technologies Committee, 2002–2004. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1996, where she has served on the program advisory board and election subcommittees. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003.

Memberships

She was a member of the National Research Council's study groups that generate assessment reports on various technology topics of national interest, and was a member of National Research Council’s Committee on Globalization (2004). She was on the board of directors for the Industrial Research Institute, the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Laboratory Operations Board for the Department of Energy for the US Government. Chowdhry is a member of the National Committee on Women in Science and Engineering sponsored by both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering since 1999. She was appointed to the Laboratory Operations Board for the U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. in 2002. Chowdhry has served on advisory boards of engineering schools at MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and the University of Delaware. She was elected to the board of trustees for Christiana Care Health Services in Delaware in 2003. Chowdhry received the 2011 IRI Medal for her leadership contributions at DuPont. Chowdhry received the 2011 Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management from the American Chemical Society.