Thomas F. Edgar is the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Chair Emeritus in Chemical Engineering at the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and former Director of the UT Energy Institute. For 50 years, Edgar has concentrated his academic work in process modeling, control, and optimization, and has published over 500 articles and book chapters in the above topics applied to separations, chemical reactors, energy systems, and semiconductor manufacturing. His research has focused on control theory and computation for nonlinear and large-scale systems where he has supervised more than 80 Ph.D. students.

Edgar has co-authored two leading textbooks in process control and co-founded the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition, which develops software tools for saving energy in industrial plants. He has created a lasting contribution to the area and was pioneering the application of advanced control and optimization approaches to chemical processes and energy systems. The award was handed to Professor Edgar during the 23rd Nordic Process Control Workshop on 17th of March 2022 by the chairman of the Nordic Process Control Working Group, Prof. Wolfgang Birk.

The Nordic Process Control Award is given to outstanding process control professionals who have made a lasting and significant contribution to the field of process control.