Two CBE associates elected to National Academy of Engineering

A pair of researchers with ties to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were elected to the National Academy of Engineering, among the highest professional honors in the field of engineering. Douglas Cameron is one of 128 NAE inductees for 2025 and Bjerne Clausen is one of 25 international inductees.

Cameron was a CBE professor at UW-Madison between 1986 and 1998, before moving into private industry. He served as director of biotechnology at Cargill than shifted into technology investing and advising.

Over several decades, he worked as a science advisor for investment firms Khosla Ventures, Piper Jaffray, Alberti Advisors, and the U.S.-China Green Fund. He is also co-president and director of the Colorado-based First Green Partners, an early-stage investment firm focused on building companies that leverage advances in science and technology applied to agriculture.

Cameron advises and is on the board of several start-up companies and is a member of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research board of directors.

The National Academy of Engineering cites Cameron for “driving the chimerical development of a synthetic, biology-based, environmentally friendly bioprocess for biofuels, food security, and industrial chemicals.” 

Bjerne Clausen served as a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Professor Emeritus Jim Dumesic in 1978, before joining Danish company Haldor Topsoe, which manufactures catalysts and related equipment. Clausen is an influential researcher in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis and surface science.

In 2006 he became director of research and development for Haldor Topsoe, moving up to executive vice president and head of the technology division in 2008. In 2011, he was appointed president and CEO, a role he held until retiring in 2020.

He has served on numerous research and industrial boards and committees including chairman of the board of iNANO, the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center at the University of Aarhus and as a member of the advisory board of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark.

The National Academy of Engineering cites Bjerne for “pioneering the molecular science of catalyst function for important chemical processes with long-lasting technical and practical impact.”

Members of the newly elected class will be formally inducted during the NAE’s Annual Meeting on Oct. 5, 2025.