David M. Ford

David M. Ford earned a B.S. degree from the University at Buffalo and M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, all in chemical engineering. Dr. Ford spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratories before starting as a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University in 1997, where he received the Department of Energy Defense Programs Early Career Scientist and Engineer Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Dr. Ford moved to the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006, where he served as Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering. He joined the University of Arkansas in 2017, serving as the Kevin W. and Marie L. Brown Department Head Chair in the Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering. In 2021, he joined Central Michigan University, serving as the Dean of the College of Science and Engineering. In 2022, he also joined the Board of Directors of the CMU Research Corporation. In 2025, he joined Mississippi State University as their new Bagley C0llege of Engineering Dean and Earnest W. and Mary Ann Deavenport Jr. Chair. 

Dr. Ford’s main research areas are statistical thermodynamics, simulations of molecular and colloidal systems, and membrane-based separations. He has also led federally funded programs to increase transfer students' graduation rates and re-envision the chemical engineering curriculum. He is active in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education.