Dr. David R. Bryant was the 1998 winner of the Perkin Medal, which is widely acknowledged as the highest honor in American industrial chemistry. The award basis is “innovation in applied chemistry resulting in outstanding commercial development.” He retired from Union Carbide Corporation as a Senior Corporate Fellow, where he won the Chairman’s Award three times, the most of anyone in the history of the company. He also won the Carothers Award, which is given by the Delaware Section of the American Chemical Society in recognition for outstanding contributions in Industrial Chemistry. He is the inventor of more than 88 U.S. patents, and he received the Distinguished West Virginian Award in 1998. Dr. Bryant received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Duke University. He also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Wake Forest University. Dr. Bryant manages the intellectual property portfolio for Renewable Algal Energy, LLC.