Chemical engineering alumnus gives back

More than 50 years after earning his M.S. degree in chemical engineering at Tufts, alumnus Y.A. Liu, EG70 still remembers the powerful impact of his time at the university. Close faculty mentorship throughout his master’s program guided him to a long and successful career as an engineering educator. Liu has honored his gratitude to Tufts with annual donations to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. To acknowledge his generosity towards the department, Tufts has dedicated a newly renovated conference room in Liu’s honor. Located in the Science and Technology Center, the conference room offers a space for students and faculty to build the types of connections that Liu treasured from his time at Tufts.  

Liu began his higher education in Taiwan, where he earned a B.S. at National Taiwan University. In 1970, he completed a master’s degree in chemical engineering at Tufts University. “As I reflect on the excellent graduate education that I received from the Tufts ChBE department that laid the foundation for my teaching career, I remain continually grateful beyond words,” wrote Liu in a letter to Professor and Chair Manolis Tzanakakis of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts.

There were two Tufts faculty members in particular who made a powerful impression on Professor Liu. The late Professor Martin Sussman accepted Liu as a graduate student from Taiwan. During his two years at Tufts, his advisor, the late Professor Gregory Botsaris, shaped Liu’s academic and career path and encouraged him to become a professor. Remarking on his career today, Liu shared in his letter, “I hope that I have lived up to the expectations of Professors Sussman and Botsaris, and the Tufts ChBE faculty.”

After Tufts, Liu pursued his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Princeton University. In 1982 he joined the faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where he currently serves as Alumni Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering. Just as Professors Sussman and Botsaris inspired him, he is widely recognized for his dedication to supporting students’ growth at Virginia Tech. He has been named both Virginia and U.S. Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation respectively.  

Professor Liu brought the lessons from his own faculty mentors into a successful career as an educator. He was recently honored with the 2025 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Warren K. Lewis Award for Chemical Engineering Education. Since 1963, the award has recognized one outstanding educator each year for their teaching excellence and strong influence on the chemical engineering industry. AIChE cited Dr. Liu’s “five decades of excellence in sustainable design education, research and practice, student mentoring, pioneering textbooks, creative scholarship, and leadership in innovative sustainable engineering training,” as key reasons that he was selected for this top honor.

Throughout his career, Dr. Liu has also been recognized for his research prowess in areas such as polymer process modeling, sustainable design, the circular economy, and more. Previous accolades include the AIChE Professional Achievement Award for Innovations in Green Process Engineering in 2021 and the AIChE Excellence in Process Development Research Award. In 2019, he was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Graduate School of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at Tufts recognized Professor Liu with an Outstanding Career Achievement award in 2010.

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts is grateful for Liu’s meaningful and consistent contributions. “We are incredibly grateful for Professor Liu’s thoughtfulness and generosity towards our department. It’s great to hear that our faculty members helped guide him towards a fulfilling career, and we are proud to continue that tradition of strong mentorship in the ChBE department today,” said Tzanakakis.