Chakrabarty named 2026 AAAR Fellow
Rajan Chakrabarty honored for contributions to aerosol science by the American Association for Aerosol Research
Rajan Chakrabarty, the Harold D. Jolley Professor of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).
The AAAR Fellow honors individuals for significant contributions to the discipline of aerosol science and technology and service to the society.
Chakrabarty directs the Aerosol Interdisciplinary Research (AIR) Laboratory, which works at the forefront of complex environmental systems. Over the years, the AIR lab has advanced fundamental understanding of radiative forcing by carbonaceous aerosols, pushed the frontiers of particle mechanics, and investigated the environmental determinants of infectious disease transmission. Expanding this work to bridge basic physics with translational public health solutions, his group also pioneers rapid, sensitive on-site detection platforms for airborne pathogens.
The nomination commended Chakrabarty for visionary work that has protected lives during a global pandemic, reduced core uncertainties in atmospheric climate modeling, brought structural equity to environmental engineering, and revitalized the administrative foundations of AAAR’s working groups and educational initiatives.
Chakrabarty has authored more than 125 peer-reviewed publications accumulating over 7,250 citations, with breakthroughs featured in top journals including Nature Climate Change, Nature Geoscience, Nature Communications and One Earth. His foundational aerosol contributions are prominently featured in AAAR’s flagship journal, Aerosol Science and Technology (AS&T), where he has published 15 papers advancing particle mechanics. His translational portfolio includes nine patents establishing commercial translation pipelines for environmental and diagnostic technologies.
His career is also marked by substantial institutional and society leadership. Chakrabarty served as founding director of the WashU–IIT Bombay Joint Master's Degree Program in Aerosol Science and Engineering and has contributed over two decades of leadership to AAAR, including chairing the Education Committee and Aerosol Physics Working Group and serving as a core organizer for the 2018 International Aerosol Conference.
Chakrabarty’s honors include the NSF CAREER Award (2015), the Richard M. Goody Award (2017), the AGU Global Environmental Change Early Career Award (2018), the AAAR Kenneth T. Whitby Award (2019), the GAeF Schmauss Award (2019) and a NASA Group Achievement Award. He was also inducted as a 2026 Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors.
Chakrabarty joined the faculty at WashU in 2014. Previously, he was an assistant research professor at the University of Nevada-Reno/Desert Research Institute. Chakrabarty earned a doctorate in chemical physics and a master's in atmospheric physics from the University of Nevada-Reno and a bachelor's degree in electronics and instrumentation engineering from the University of Madras in India.
