The American Institute of Chemical Engineers has selected Pablo Debenedetti to receive the 2008 William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature.

Debenedetti, the Class of 1950 Professor of Chemical Engineering and vice dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will receive the award in November at the institute’s annual meeting in Philadelphia. The award honors Debenedetti’s “outstanding contributions on the theory of hydrophobicity, the thermodynamics of supercooled and glassy water, the properties of water in nanoscale confinement and the theory of glasses and supercooled liquids.”

Debenedetti earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 and joined the Princeton faculty the same year. He has been chair and acting chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering and since July 1 has served as vice dean of the engineering school. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

A popular teacher, Debenedetti won multiple Excellence in Teaching awards from the student Engineering Councils. In June, he won the highest teaching awards for the University as a whole and for the school of engineering.