With the passing of Dr. Srinivasa Sourirajan in February 2022, UB’s RENEW Institute, and the global scientific community at large, was dealt a staggering loss. Dr. Sourirajan’s many accomplishments include development of cellulose acetate membranes for water desalination using reverse osmosis. Co-created with Dr. Sidney Loeb, this scientific breakthrough gave rise to the development and industrialization of the myriad membrane separation technologies utilized across the disciplines in contemporary science, including the energy, environment, and water disciplines of RENEW. As evidenced by his education as well as his research output, Dr. Sourirajan—who earned a PhD in chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science, and, at Yale University, an additional PhD in chemical engineering—was an intrinsically interdisciplinary thinker.

In addition to laying the foundation for much of the science that we practice at RENEW, Dr. Sourirajan was also the father of RENEW Steering Committee member and Chair of the Department of Materials Design & Innovation, Dr. Krishna Rajan. To Dr. Rajan and his family, we extend our deepest condolences.

In recognition of the impact Dr. Sourirajan has had on the scientific community, we will use this space on our website to curate remembrances and articles about his life and his work.