PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

George Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos is a Greek-born chemical engineer whose work applied artificial intelligence to process-systems engineering. After earning degrees in Athens, at McMaster and Florida, he taught at Minnesota and returned to NTUA before joining MIT in 1984. At MIT, he led an AI program for process modeling, design and control and coedited a 1995 volume, Intelligent Systems in Process Engineering. He joined the National Academy of Engineering in 1999, served as Mitsubishi Chemical's chief technology officer from 2000 to 2002, and became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. He holds joint professorships at Arizona State University and is MIT's Arthur Dehon Little Professor, Emeritus; his 2025 book covers process dynamics and control.

Timeline

  1. 1947–1974

    Early life and degrees

    Born in Kalamata, Greece, in 1947, he earns a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 1970. He earns an M.E. in Applied Mechanics from McMaster University in 1971 and a PhD from the University of Florida in 1974.

  2. 1974–1984

    Minnesota to MIT

    He joins the University of Minnesota's Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Sciences in 1974. In 1980, he returns to the National Technical University of Athens as a professor and writes Chemical Process Control: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. He joins MIT's Chemical Engineering faculty in January 1984.

  3. 1984–1995

    AI research at MIT

    From 1984 to 1995, he directs the Laboratory for Intelligent Systems in Process Engineering and starts a 30-company consortium to apply AI to process modeling, process design, monitoring and diagnosis, plantwide control, molecule design, metabolic-pathway synthesis and process safety. The work connects AI with optimization, dynamics and control.

  4. 1995

    Intelligent systems in process engineering

    He co-edits Intelligent Systems in Process Engineering, Part II: Paradigms from Process Operations in 1995. The volume combines artificial-intelligence methods with operations research, estimation, control theory and statistics through chemical-engineering case studies.

  5. 1999

    National Academy membership

    He becomes a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1999.

  6. 2000–2005

    Chief technology officer at Mitsubishi

    In 2000, he takes leave from MIT to serve as chief technology officer and executive managing officer at Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. He returns to MIT in 2002 and serves on the company's board through 2005.

  7. 2012

    American Academy fellowship

    He becomes a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professorships at ASU and MIT

    He joins Arizona State University in January 2018 as a professor with joint appointments in the School of Molecular Sciences and the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, and is the Arthur Dehon Little Professor, Emeritus, at MIT. His work includes nanoscale process systems engineering, multiresolution modeling and design of materials and processes, and multiscale process operations and control. In 2025, he publishes Chemical and Biological Process Dynamics and Control, an introduction to dynamic chemical and biological process engineering.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

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  1. School of Chemical Engineering :: G. Stefanopoulos chemeng.ntua.gr. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. George Stephanopoulos | ASU Search search.asu.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. About George Stephanopoulos – MIT : 2040 Visions of Process Systems Engineering stephanopoulos-symposium.mit.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Stephanopoulos Named to AD Little Chair | MIT News news.mit.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Intelligent Systems in Process Engineering, Part II: Paradigms from Process Operations shop.elsevier.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. George Stephanopoulos – MIT ChemE cheme.mit.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  7. Chemical and Biological Process Dynamics and Control (Color Edition) - George Stephanopoulos - Google Books books.google.com. Checked 19 October 2026.