2025 Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers Honorees
The McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering announces the 2025 honorees of the Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers.
Considered the highest honor bestowed by the department, Academy honorees have provided leadership and technical contributions that have helped transform economies, improved the quality of life and benefited society.
JOSE BAYARDO (B.S. 1993)
Jose Bayardo is the president and chief operating officer of NOV Inc., a leading provider of technology and equipment to the global energy industry.
After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering in 1993, Jose began his career as an engineering consultant with FM Global. He returned to school in 1996 and obtained an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Master of Engineering Management from the McCormick School of Engineering, both at Northwestern University. Post graduate studies, Jose entered the field of investment banking where he focused on the energy technology sector while working for J.P. Morgan.
In 2003, Jose joined Complete Production Services, Inc., an SCF Partners backed oilfield service company, where he helped execute key growth initiatives, including a merger with two other SCF companies and a successful initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. After the IPO, Jose was asked to lead operations for the U.S. Rocky Mountain and Mid-Continent regions of Complete’s largest division. In 2009 he was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer and served in that capacity until the company was acquired in 2012.
After the acquisition, Jose joined Continental Resources, Inc. a leading North American oil and gas producer, as senior vice president of business development. In this role, he established a mergers and acquisitions team and led several acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures. Jose was promoted to senior vice president of resource and business development, adding responsibilities for Continental’s reservoir engineering, development planning, and economic analysis activities.
In 2015, Jose joined NOV Inc. as senior vice president and chief financial officer and was promoted to president and chief operating officer in 2025.
Jose serves on the board of directors for Louisiana-Pacific Corporation and previously served on the board of Flywheel Energy, LLC. Jose enjoys remaining connected to UT Austin and previously served on the External Advisory Council for the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. He is active in his local community where he serves on the executive leadership committee for the Houston-area Alzheimer’s Association. He also proudly serves as treasurer for the Girl Scouts troop in which his two daughters are active.
CHARLES CAMPBELL (B.S. 1975)
Charles is the author of more than 380 research publications and holds two patents on surface chemistry, catalysis, physical chemistry and biosensing. He is an elected fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), American Vacuum Society (AVS), and American Association for the Advancement of Science, honorary fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society, and is a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
He received the Adamson Award, Award for Colloid or Surface Chemistry, Gabor Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis and the ACS Catalysis Award for Exceptional Achievements through ACS. Charles was also awarded the Gerhard Ertl Lecture Award, Robert Burwell Award/Lectureship of the North American Catalysis Society, Medard W. Welch Award of the AVS, Gauss Professorship of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, the Ipatieff Lectureship of Northwestern University and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award.
Charles serves as editor-in-chief of Surface Science Reports and Catalysis Reviews in Science and Engineering, on the boards of Catalysis Letters, Surface Science and Topics in Catalysis, and as director of the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He previously served as editor-in-chief of Surface Science for over ten years, as chair of the Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division of the ACS, and on many advisory boards both nationally and internationally.
Charles grew up in Beaumont, Texas, is married, and has one son.
NICK CLAUSI (Ph.D. 1998)
Nick received his B.S. in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1994, followed by his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1998.
Upon graduation, Nick joined ExxonMobil as a product researcher in chemicals technology in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He subsequently worked in various business and manufacturing positions in chemicals and refining across Houston, Beaumont, and Baton Rouge. In 2016 Nick became vice president, chemicals technology. In 2018, he was appointed senior vice president of performance derivatives in the chemical company. He subsequently served as vice president, engineering before assuming his current position in April 2022.
Nick serves on advisory boards for N.C. State’s Department of Engineering, UT Austin’s Cockrell School and MIT’s Energy Institute. He also serves on the board of the Montgomery County Food Bank.
Nick is married and has two daughters. His wife, Becky, is a teacher and serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children.
SAM SMOLIK (B.S. 1975)
Since retiring in 2017, Sam has served on the board of directors of Axalta Coating Systems, FlyGuys, Inc., and Ducks Unlimited, the world’s leading wetlands conservation organization. He has a long history of involvement with UT Austin, as he had a part-time job in the chemical engineering stockroom as a student, led efforts to recruit UT students for 20+ years in various industry positions he held, and previously served on the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering’s External Advisory Council. He also currently serves on the Cockrell School’s Engineering Advisory Board.
Sam has authored two books, “The Power of Goal ZERO” and “The Daily Pursuit of Excellence”, to share the individual and company performance improvement concepts that he and his colleagues developed during his career.
CARMEN WRIGHT (Ph.D. 1997)
Carmen currently serves as a teaching leader in Bible Study Fellowship, a global non-profit organization dedicated to biblical education. In this position, she oversees a diverse community of approximately 600 women and 150 children. Her passion for education goes further as she has taught calculus and geometry, served on a private school board of directors, and sponsored scholarships and endowments at multiple schools and universities alongside her husband.
Her academic achievements include a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, where she made history as the first black female Ph.D. graduate of The McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. Carmen also earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech.
Carmen is married to Glenn Wright, who was inducted into The McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers in 2022. Glenn also received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UT Austin in 1992. They have two daughters, Taylor and Lauryn.