Norman & Jane Li: Driving Innovation in Water Sustainability
Water is life — and for longtime AIChE Foundation supporters and Diamond Level McKetta Lifetime Giving Society Members Drs. Norman and Jane Li, ensuring access to clean water has been a lifelong passion. Through a gift designated for water initiatives beginning in 2020, the Lis have helped AIChE advance efforts to address critical water-related challenges — developing and promoting solutions, optimizing water usage, minimizing pollution, and raising awareness through collaboration.
This year, support from the Li family helped fund the 2025 Chemical Ventures Conference (CVC), held August 12–13 at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering. The two-day event brought together entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors to explore innovations in sustainability, circularity, and resiliency across the chemical industry. Highlights included keynote presentations from Andrew Chang, Activate New York, on managing risk from lab to market and Tim Swager, MIT, on Porous Organic Polymers as new generation adsorbents for decontaminating water.
Attendees also participated in startup pitches, reverse pitches, and panel discussions focused on accelerating solutions and connecting emerging ventures with funding and growth opportunities.
Following successful careers at ExxonMobil (Norman) and UOP (Jane), the Lis founded NL Chemical Technology, developing advanced membrane technologies to deliver clean water to communities around the world. Their leadership and generosity continue to empower AIChE to address urgent global challenges and ensure sustainable water resources for future generations.
