Lilia Ann Abron

Lilia Ann Abron (born March 8, 1945 ) is an entrepreneur and chemical engineer.

In 1966, Abron earned a B.S. in chemistry from LeMoyne-Owen College, with distinction.

Abron's advisor at LeMoyne-Owen, Dr. Bueler, suggested that she study engineering.

She also credits Dr. Juanita Williamson, an English Professor at LeMoyne-Owen and a fellow African American, with inspiring her to pursue further education.

She was offered a full-tuition scholarship from Washington University in St. Louis to study sanitary engineering, funded by the Public Health Service.

Washington University was very different to anything she had experienced up to that point: it was her first time away from home, one of only two women in a large class of predominantly white males.

She completed her entire degree in just thirteen months, graduating in 1968 with an MS in Environmental Engineering.

During her time at Washington University, Abron developed the goal of working in academia and gained experience by working in her professors' labs.

After graduating, Abron found it difficult to find work as an environmental engineer.

She worked for a year as an environmental chemist in the Kansas City water department, then for another year as a research environmental chemist at the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Chicago.

She began her PhD in September 1968 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's department of civil engineering, under the supervision of Dr. Rolfe Skrimbee.

When he moved to the University of Iowa, she moved with him.

Abron was assistant professor of civil engineering at Tennessee State University from 1971.

In 1972, Abron became the first African American woman to earn a PhD in chemical engineering.

Abron was born in Memphis, Tennessee, was the second of four daughters.

She was born prematurely, at home, and had to be rushed to the hospital by her aunt in a cab, as ambulances were not available for African Americans at the time.

Her parents were both educators who had attended LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne-Owen College).

Her father, Ernest Buford Abron, had sustained an injury playing football in college, and was thus unable to serve during World War II.

He worked as a Pullman porter and later was a teacher.

Abron's mother, Bernice Wise Abron, was a typist from Arkansas.

She typed briefs for Wiley Branton, the Little Rock Nine's defense attorney.

Abron's parents were Baptists and she was baptized at the age of nine.

She participated in Girl Scouts and in the junior choir at her church.

Abron attended a public school and was placed in the school's math and science track.

After graduating from Memphis High School, she decided to study medicine.

Abron studied at LeMoyne-Owen College.

She was granted a scholarship, which she lost after her freshman year because her grades were not high enough.

She switched from a biology major to a chemistry major.

However, Dr. Skrimbree left the University of Iowa before Abron finished her research, so she completed her degree in chemical engineering in 1972, under the supervision of James O. Osburn.

She was the first African American woman to be awarded a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, and only the third woman to receive a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa.

Her thesis focused on reverse osmosis, and was titled: "Transport Mechanism in Hollow Nylon Fiber Reverse Osmosis Membranes for the Removal of DDT and Aldrin from Water".

She was also an assistant professor of environmental engineering Vanderbilt University from 1973.

In 1975, she moved Howard University as assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, simultaneously working at Washington Technical Institute (now part of the University of the District of Columbia).

Dr. Abron is a registered professional engineer, and a member of the Water Environmental Federation, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Water Works Association, the Society of Sigma Xi, and the American Association of University Women.

She also serves on the Engineering Advisory Board for the National Sciences Foundation.

In 2004, she was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2020, for "leadership in providing technology-driven sustainable housing and environmental engineering solutions in the United States and South Africa".

She was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, DC Alpha Chapter as an Eminent Engineer, and she is a History Maker®.

She has been bestowed the highest honor – Distinguished Member, Class of 2021 – of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

As of January 2021, she became President of The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES).