Karen Gleason is professor of chemical engineering and associate director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) at MIT. Additionally, she is chief scientific advisor and co-founder of GVD Corporation. She has authored more than 150 publications and received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award and the ONR Young Investigators Program award. Gleason received her BS in chemistry and MS in chemical engineering at MIT, and her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. From 2001 to 2004 she served as executive officer of the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT.