The 2024 CBE Distinguished Alumni Awardees

Congratulations to our five 2024 CBE Distinguished Alumni Award recipients!

CBE Distinguished Alumni Awards

Victor Agreda, a native of Bolivia, earned B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering – all from NC State University where he was inducted into Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, and Sigma Xi honor societies and awarded the Schoenborn Graduate Student Award. He has served on academic, charitable, and professional organizations and advisory boards, including as secretary of a local chapter of AIChE and chair of the Board of Visitors at NC State University’s Chemistry Department.

Agreda began his career at the Tennessee site of the Chemicals Division of Eastman Kodak Company where he joined a billion dollar program to build an environmentally sound facility to manufacture chemicals from coal. His patented innovations (some licensed to other companies) greatly improved cost, efficiency, and profitability. For his contributions, Agreda was promoted several times and has been awarded 12 US patents. He has authored or coauthored 14 technical publications, including a book on acetyl technology. As a manager and director, he led organizations in technology, engineering, and manufacturing. A highlight of his career was his position as Technology Director and member of the European management team of Eastman Chemical BV in the Netherlands. Responsibilities included the creation of a consolidated Research, Development, Analytical, and Technical Services organization for Europe in support of Eastman Chemical’s globalization strategy – adopted upon its spinoff from Eastman Kodak. As Corporate Technology Director, Agreda worked in the development of strategies for Eastman’s businesses and participated in acquisitions, alliances and joint ventures in Brazil and Europe.

Since his retirement from Eastman Chemical, Agreda has been a part-time consultant. He and his wife, Carla, who is an NC State graduate with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Statistics, are parents to three sons and have two grandchildren. They currently live in Knoxville, TN.

Concepción “Conchita” Jiménez-González, Conchita Jiménez-González, a native of Chihuahua Mexico, earned a B.S. in Chemical and Industrial Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Chihuahua in 1992. She started her career as project engineer and then project manager at the Environmental Quality Center of Tecnológico de Monterrey, where she earned an M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering in 1994. Jiménez-González came to NC State as a Fulbright scholar and earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2001 and an MBA in 2017.

After finishing her Ph.D., Jiménez-González took a role in GlaxoSmithKline as senior chemical engineer, developing tools to help scientists deliver more sustainable products and processes. Her career has taken her around the globe working across different business units and functional areas. At GSK she has held a series of roles of increasing responsibility including manager of sustainable technologies and new product support, director of operational sustainability, director of analytics and reporting, director of new product development, and graduate program lead. She is currently vice-president, head of R&D Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability, leading the global team that enables scientists and engineers to develop medicines and vaccines safely and sustainably.

Jiménez-González has co-authored two books and dozens of peer-reviewed publications in the areas of life cycle assessment, green chemistry and engineering. She is also an adjunct lecturer in NC State’s CBE department. She has served in various professional boards and committees, including the Scientific Advisory Committee in Chemicals for the US EPA, the Editorial Advisory Board for the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia, the Board of Trustees of Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering, the Advisory Committee to the College of Engineering and Sciences of Tecnológico de Monterrey, and the Advisory Committee of the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community.

Jiménez-González and her husband Jeff, who earned a Ph.D. in Physics from NC State, live in Cary.

Harry Sideris, a native of Asheville, NC, earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1994 and an MBA from Campbell University in 1998. Sideris began his career as a chemical engineer at Progress Energy (formerly Carolina Power & Light) in 1996, and over his 28 years in the energy industry, Sideris has built an exceptional track record of leadership and accomplishment that spans operational, customer service, regulatory and stakeholder engagement experience. Sideris is now president of Duke Energy, one of the nation’s largest energy holding companies.

As president, Sideris oversees Duke Energy’s electric and gas utilities in the company’s seven-state service area, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Sideris is responsible for all aspects of generation operations, nuclear, gas operations, customer service and delivery, power grid operations, the development of mass-market products and services, wholesale power, economic development, regulatory and legislative affairs, construction, and the company’s long-term grid and generation strategies and solutions. He serves as a trustee of the Duke Energy Foundation and as a board member of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. He co-chairs the National Utilities Diversity Council and is a former member of the N.C. State Natural Resources Foundation, Inc.

Sideris and his wife, Catinna, live in Charlotte with their two daughters, Marianna and Zoey.

John Wolf, a native of Hillsborough, NC, earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with an Economics minor in 1995. He joined Cryovac, a division of WR Grace, as a development engineer, earning 9 US Patents. In his 22 years with Cryovac and Sealed Air, he held numerous R&D, manufacturing and executive leadership roles, including Vice President of Strategy and Execution, Vice President for Global General Packaging, Global Vice President of Marketing and Global Vice President/General Manager for the Automated Fulfillment Solutions Business Unit. In 2019 he joined Spectrum Plastics Group as Divisional President, and in late 2021 he was promoted to CEO. In 2023 he led the sale of Spectrum to DuPont, and post-acquisition he has maintained his role as CEO and Global General Manager for DuPont’s Industrial Solutions $700MM combined Healthcare business unit. In his time as CEO, Spectrum has hired over a dozen NC State engineers into their Professional Development Program. 

Wolf has a true Wolfpack family, with wife Deanna being a 1995 graduate in Psychology, and three daughters: Isabelle a 2021 graduate in Graphic Design, Annalise a 2023 graduate in Physics, and Evelynne who is currently a senior studying Biomedical Engineering. His extended family roots run deeper, including his sister, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law who are fellow alumni. He has two nephews who are current engineering students and a niece in graduate school.

Wolf currently serves on the Advisory Board for the NC State CBE department. He and Deanna made a gift to name Room 2025 in EB1 as the Wolf Family Conference Room.

CBE Distinguished Young Alumni Award

Kate Sherlock Auernik, a native of Palmyra, NY, earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Material Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from NC State in 2006 and 2009, respectively. 

After exploring the printing and chemical manufacturing industries through internships, Auernik started her full-time career as a process engineer at Merck supporting existing vaccine manufacturing efforts to help prevent viral infections. Upon completion of her Ph.D., she returned to Merck in viral vaccine manufacturing, supporting new facility construction, technical transfer, and licensing efforts. Auernik then joined Humacyte, a start-up clinical stage company in a process development and technical transfer capacity to develop and scale one of their first universally implantable, bioengineered human tissue products to help those with vascular trauma. Auernik’s next career move offered her the opportunity to be part of teams tasked with building out Takeda’s new vaccine business unit, commercializing/licensing their first US-based in-house manufacturing effort involving a monoclonal antibody therapeutic modality treating those with Crohn’s Disease. Auernik then joined Pfizer, working with technology that helped to solve supply chain challenges associated with bringing a COVID-19 vaccine to the public and commercializing the company’s first gene therapy modality targeted as a one-time treatment for those with the Hemophilia B bleeding disorder. Currently, Auernik is VP of Technical Operations at Beam Therapeutics, a gene editing biotechnology company, preparing to commercialize their first product, which focuses on treating patients with sickle cell disease.

Auernik has been a member of the NC State CBE Alumni Advisory Board since 2022, and a supporter of NC State CBE’s Graduate Fellowship Fund. She and her husband, Mark, live in Cary with their son Daniel and Kate’s mother, Anne.