Jaya Mohanan Lakshmi ’99
Sustainable science—research chemist who works to clean the air.
Jaya Lakshmi ’99 (chemistry) is an Expert in Innovation Management at the global chemistry corporation BASF.
She works to create catalysts that remove harmful pollutants from automobile exhaust and currently holds 14 patents.
Lakshmi immigrated to the US from a remote village in India while in the eleventh grade. Faced with learning English, being bullied, and feeling like she didn’t fit in, she decided early on to fight to become the successful scientist she is today.
She earned her PhD in inorganic materials chemistry from Wayne State University in 2004.
Learn more about Lakshmi in a recent PURCHASE magazine feature, Catalyst for Good.