He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He received the National Academy of Engineering’s Founders Award and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Minnesota, Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Guadalajara and Northwestern University. Amundson is recognized as an exceptionally prolific, innovative and influential chemical engineering researcher.

His contributions include modeling and analysis of chemical reactors, separation systems, polymerization and coal combustion. He has had a profound, pioneering impact on the education of chemical engineers, changing the teaching of the field from a qualitative, descriptive approach to precise scientific methodologies.

A native of St. Paul, Minn., Amundson received a bachelor of science in chemical engineering, a master’s in chemical engineering and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Minnesota.