Draft:Nickolas J. Themelis

Nickolas J. Themelis is the Stanley Thompson Professor Emeritus of Chemical Metallurgy and the Director of the Earth Engineering Center at Columbia University. His research interests primarily revolve around technology, policy, and economic tools aimed at reducing landfilling in the United States, Latin America, and Asia, where approximately 90% of post-recycling wastes are currently disposed of in landfills.

In 1983, he was elected as a member to National Academy of Engineering.

Education
Themelis earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and later obtained his PhD in Chemical Metallurgy from McGill University in 1961.

Career
Throughout his career, he has held various positions, including Vice President of Technology at Kennecott Copper Corp in New York City, Vice President of Research, Engineering, and Computing at the Metal Mining Division of Kennecott Copper Corp. in both New York City and Salt Lake City, and associate director at the Noranda Research Center in Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada.

At Columbia University, Themelis served as the Chair of the School of Mines and later became the first chair of the newly established Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering. He is the founder and Director of Columbia's Earth Engineering Center and the Global WTERT Council (GWC), which has sister organizations in fourteen nations, including China and India. Currently, Themelis is a professor of Metallurgical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University. He has also received awards by the Materials and Energy Recovery Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2011 and the Confederation of European Waste to Energy Plants (CEWEP) in 2016. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Research
Themelis directs graduate research focusing on sustainable waste management practices. His research encompasses various methods such as reducing material usage, recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery, and sanitary landfilling of non-recyclable and non-combustible materials. He is the author or co-author of numerous papers and books on waste management, including publications for the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the Encyclopedia of Sustainability of Science and Technology (Springer pub.), and Renewable Energy Sources (Springer pub).

Noranda Process
In the first part of his career, Themelis was Director of the Engineering Division of the Noranda Research Center, Montreal, Canada where he invented and helped build the first continuous smelting and converting process, called the Noranda Process.

Awards
He has received awards and honors including the Phoenix Award of the Confederation of European WTE Plants (CEWEP) in 2016 and the Environmental Conservation Distinguished Service Award of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) in 2004.