Voiland CollegeVoiland SchoolYong Wang

Yong Wang

  1. Regents Professor, WSU
  2. Director, Institute for Integrated Catalysis, PNNL
Email Addresswang42@wsu.edu
LocationWegner Hall 153
Phone509-371-6273

Biography

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Biography

Dr. Wang joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in 1994 and was promoted to the position of Laboratory Fellow in 2005. He led the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Team from 2000 to 2007 and has served as the Associate Director of the Institute for Integrated Catalysis (IIC) from 2008 to 2024. In 2009, he assumed a joint appointment at Washington State University (WSU) and PNNL, where he continues to hold the title of Laboratory Fellow and Associate Director of IIC at PNNL, and is also the Voiland Distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering at WSU. In 2022, Dr. Wang received the title of Regents Professor, a recognition awarded to only 30 faculty members at WSU at any given time. In 2025, he assumed the Director position of IIC at PNNL.

He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in developing novel catalytic materials and reaction engineering to tackle energy and atom efficiency challenges in converting carbon sources – including fossils, biomass, CO2, and plastic waste – into fuels and chemicals with minimal environmental impact. With expertise spanning fundamental principles to crucial industrial applications, he drives advancements in sustainable technologies to address present and future energy, resource, and environmental concerns. As a researcher, inventor, and visionary collaborative academic leader, he has >460 peer-reviewed publications with an H-index of 106 and 51,128 citations (as of Dec. 16, 2025) and is listed as a highly cited researcher by Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics). Additionally, he holds 111 issued U.S. patents, over 90% of which are licensed to industry, showcasing his contributions to technology transfer and industrial impact. He has delivered over 250 invited lectures, and co-edited 2 books on process intensification and biomass conversion.

Dr. Wang is a member of National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He is also a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), American Chemical Society (ACS), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2025 R. H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering by American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the 2025 CACS (Chinese American Chemical Society) Outstanding Achievement Award, the 2025 Robert Burwell Lectureship in Catalysis by North American Catalysis Society, the 2021 ACS E.V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, the 2019 AIChE Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Practice Award, the 2006 Asian American Engineer of the Year Award, the Presidential Green Chemistry Award, three R&D 100 Awards, a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the Chemical Engineering program at WSU, 2025 WSU Distinguished Faculty Address Award, two PNNL Inventor of the Year Awards, a Battelle Distinguished Inventor Award, the first recipient of the PNNL Laboratory Director’s Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, and Voiland College Safety Award (2020) which is a testimony of achieving high productivity with well-established safety culture.

He has served as the past chair of the Energy & Fuel Division of the American Chemical Society, past director of the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division of AIChE, secretary of Pacific Coast Catalysis Society, and member of the American Chemical Society National Award Committee (2016-2019). He is currently serving as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Applied Catalysis B and Executive Editor of the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Education and Credentials

  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, 1993
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, 1992
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, Chengdu University of Science and Technology (now Sichuan University), 1984

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Member, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) (2025)
  • The 2025 R. H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering by American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
  • The 2025 Chinese American Chemical Society (CACS) Outstanding Achievement Award
  • The 2025 Robert Burwell Lectureship in Catalysis Award by North American Catalysis Society (NACS)
  • The 2025 WSU Distinguished Faculty Address Award
  • The 2021 American Chemical Society E.V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
  • The 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division Practice Award
  • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (2015)
  • Member, Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) (2015)
  • Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) (2013)
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (2013)
  • Fellow The American Chemical Society (ACS) (2010)
  • Fellow, The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2008)
  • R&D 100 Award, Fischer-Tropsch fuels using Velocys microchannel technology (2008)
  • R&D 100 Award, full-scale vaporizer for automotive fuel cell fuel processor (1999)
  • R&D 100 Award, production of chemicals from biologically derived succinic acid (1997)
  • Presidential Green Chemistry Award, use of biomass to produce useful chemicals (1999)
  • Asian American Engineer of the Year Award (2006)
  • PNNL Inventor of the Year (2006)
  • PNNL Inventor of the Year (2004)
  • Distinguished Battelle Inventor (2004)
  • First recipient of PNNL Laboratory Director’s Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (2005)

Selected Society Participation

  • Co-Editor-in-Chief, Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy (2023-present)
  • Founding Executive Editor of the Catalysis Section, Chemical Engineering Journal (2022-present)
  • Editor, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2022)
  • Editorial board, ACS Catalysis (2010–2021)
  • Editorial board, JACS Au (2020-present)
  • Editorial board, Catalysis Today (2006–present)
  • Editor of Journal of Energy Chemistry (2012–2017)
  • Editorial board, Journal of Nanomaterials (2005–2020)
  • Editorial board, Biofuel Research Journal (2014-present)
  • Editorial board, Chinese Journal of Catalysis (2014-present)
  • Honorary Chairman of Trends in Renewable Energy (Future Energy Service and Publishing), (2015-present)
  • Chair elect, ACS Petroleum Division (2011)
  • Co-Chair, ACS Energy & Fuel Division (2012)
  • Chair, Program Committee of the ACS Petroleum division (2006 –2008)
  • Secretary of Pacific Coast Catalysis Society (2006–2009)
  • Director to the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division of AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) (2015-2017)

Selected Recent Publications

  • K.Khivantsev, H.Pham, M.H.Engelhard, H.A.Aleksandrov, L.Kovarik, M.Bowden, S.Li, J.Tian, I.Z.Koleva, I.Song, W.Hu, X.Wei, Y.Sun, P.Tran, T.R.Graham, D.Jiang, D.P.Dean, D.J.Breckner, J.T.Miller, G.N.Vayssilov, J.Szanyi, A.Datye, Y.Wang, “Transforming ceria into 2D clusters enhances catalytic activity”, Nature, 2025, DOI:10.1038/s41586-025-08684-x.
  • R.Zhang, Y.Wang*, P.Gaspard, N.Kruse*, “The oscillating Fischer-Tropsch reaction”, Science, 2023, 382, 99-103.
  • D.Jiang, G.Wan, J.H.Stenlid, C.E. García-Vargas, J.Zhang, C.Sun, J.Li, F. Abild-Pedersen*, C.J. Tassone*, Yong Wang*, “Dynamic and reversible transformations of sub-nanometer-sized palladium on ceria for efficient methane removal”, Nature Catalysis, 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39478-2.
  • Li, X. I. P. Hernandez, Y. Chen, J. Xu, J. Zhao, C. Pao, C.-Y. Fang, J. Zeng*, Y. Wang*, B. C. Gates*, J. Liu*, “Functional CeOx Nanoglues for Robust Atomically Dispersed Catalysts”, Nature, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05251-6.
  • H.Xiong, D.Kunwar, D.Jiang, C.E. García-Vargas, H.Li, C.Du, G.Canning, X.I.Pereira-Hernandez, Q.Wan, S.Lin, S.C.Purdy, J.T.Miller, K.Leung, S.S.Chou, H.H.Brongersma, Rik ter Veen, J.Huang, H.Guo*, Y.Wang*, A.K.Datye*, “Engineering catalyst supports to stabilize PdOx two-dimensional rafts for water-tolerant methane oxidation”, Nature Catalysis, 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41929-021-00680-4.
  • L.Nie, D.Mei, H.Xiong, B.Peng, Z.Ren,X.Hernandez, A.DeLaRiva, M.Wang, M.H. Engelhard, L. Kovarik, A.K. Datye, Y.Wang, “Activation of surface lattice oxygen in single-atom Pt/CeO2 for low-temperature CO oxidation”, Science, 2017, 358, 1419-1423, doi: 10.1126/science.aao2109.
  • J.Jones, H.Xiong, A.T. DeLaRiva, E.J. Peterson, H.Pham, S.R. Challa, G.Qi, S.Oh, M.H. Wiebenga, X.Hernández, Y.Wang, A.K. Datye, “Thermallystable single-atom platinum-on-ceria catalysts via atomtrapping”, Science, 2016, 353(6295), 150-154. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf8800.
  • J.Sun, R.A.L.Baylon, C.Liu, D.Mei, K.J.Martin, P.Venkitasubramanian, Y.Wang, “Key roles of Lewis acid-base pairs on ZnxZryOz in direct ethanol/acetone to isobutene conversion”, J.Am.Chem.Soc., 2016, 2, 507-517. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5b07401.