Howard University Engineering Professor Preethi Chandran Receives 2024 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Howard University chemical engineering associate professor Preethi Chandran recently received the 2024 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, issued by AmeriCorps and the Office of the President of the United States for her lifelong commitment to strengthening the nation with volunteer service.

"I am grateful to be recognized, and I am grateful to the faculty, staff, and students at Howard for embodying the inseparability of the pursuits of excellence and service,” said Chandran.

Chandran was honored with the award for her impactful volunteer work with the Heart of Tabitha Foundation, an organization that arms a motto of empowering students to excel. The Heart of Tabitha Foundation is an official certifying organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Award which bears the lifetime award title for its individual recipients.

The award was established in 2003 through the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation by former President George W. Bush to recognize dedicated volunteers whose work leaves a lasting and meaningful impact on service recipients and their communities.

Chandran’s work has empowered many students from underrepresented communities with her mentorship and summer STEM workshops, inspiring them to work towards achieving prestigious academic and professional positions. Her dedication to mentoring, public education and research, and innovation is reflected in the results of her years of genuine service and impactful leadership.

As a researcher, Chandran has received over $2 million dollars in research grant funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and private industry, and has multiple patents for her trailblazing biological and biophysical research. 

Chandran also serves as director of graduate studies and director of the Biomolecular Assemblies and Nanomechanics Lab in the department of chemical engineering, and has led industry-academia partnerships such as the HU-Amgen Fellowship program for graduate students. In addition, she was voted a Student Choice Professor in Chemical Engineering by the College of Engineering and Architecture Student Council.