Dr. Charles Meyer BS ChE ’82, Missouri University of Science & Technology PhD ChE ’87, Rice University in Huston

Charlie Meyer graduated from the University of Missouri Rolla in 1982 with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering.  He went on to graduate school at Rice University in Houston, earning a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1987.  He had planned to go into academia, but in the end, turned down a faculty position at the University of Rochester to join Shell Oil Company in Houston at its Westhollow Technology Center.   Having studied biological processes for commodity chemical production at Rice, Charlie was hired into a research position on biological wastewater treatment.  It was in this position that he came to fully appreciate the applicability of Chemical Engineering principles for solving environmental problems.

Over the next several years, Charlie held various positions related to water and wastewater treatment, supporting both refinery and petrochemical wastewater treatment, and upstream water treatment.  This included a combination of R&D, direct technical support to Shell manufacturing and production facilities, and process design for new facilities.  In 2005, Charlie moved into a leadership role as manager of the utilities and water treatment group for Shell in the Americas.  In 2015, Charlie became the Global Discipline Manager for Ecotoxicology, a group overseeing environmental testing of Shell’s products as well as providing support for assessment of the impacts of Shell’s operations on the aquatic environment.  This was Charlie’s final role in Shell before retiring in 2021.

Throughout his career, Charlie maintained a connection with academia, collaborating with various universities on environmental projects of importance to Shell, and recruiting for Shell at the University of Minnesota, MIT, and eventually serving as manager of the Shell recruiting team for Rice.  Since 2009, Charlie has been a member of the Rice University Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Alumni Committee and served as its chair from 2016 to 2019.  This group provides support to the department through activities such as student mentoring and organizing alumni-student- faculty events.  Now that he is retired, Charlie is looking forward to spending more time in support of Missouri S&T and welcomes the opportunity to join the Academy.